


How to Train your WorldKiller

by Rykeral



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Crack, F/F, Length:Unknown, Ship: Unknown, The Lilo and Stitch AU?, a character study?, aspects of all ships mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-05-06 20:52:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 76,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14656016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rykeral/pseuds/Rykeral
Summary: "What-," Lena paused and ran her tongue along the front of her teeth. "Reign," she asked patiently, feeling a headache at the base of her spine. "Why have you brought me a....'" she let out a breath as Reign's dark lips split into a smile. It was slightly tilted as though the woman wasn't familiar with the movement, and it struck Lena that, that were the case, and it slid from her face at Lena's lack of response. "Kitty?" Hearing the Worldkiller say such a juvenile thing made Lena's lip twitch but she fought down the amusement. "That is a mountain lion," she nodded and the big cat yowled in fury and squirmed in the Kryptonian's vice-like hold.It seemed almost resigned to its fate and Lena wondered just how it had struggled and how terrified it had been flying through the air.Reign nodded. "You are worth more than the small creatures I have seen in the city."Lena let out a long sigh. She needed a drink.Babysitting a Kryptonian World Destroyer was a lot more than it was cracked up to be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, here I am again. I know. *le sigh* I've currently lost muse for my other fics so this is a whole bunch of crack. I had the idea after the mid-season break and had the terrible thought of Lena somehow ending up being the babysitter for Reign and Reign basically trying to bring Lena presents. These ramblings are the result. We'll see how it goes. Updates will come and go, and I may not even complete it. This is just to help me get back into writing regularly. 
> 
> That being said, I've no idea on ships (SC, RC, or even SRC) but it will end up, I think, with both Reign and Supergirl competing for Lena's affection and attention.

The opening night of ‘The Lion King’ on Broadway sold out within hours of the announcement and those who got tickets were thrilled with their luck, Lena Luthor among them. Since discovering that her best friend was a bit of a Disney nut Lena had been keeping an eye out on various products on the market for Kara’s birthday or, well, for any reason really. She had enough money to be able to buy Disney- Jess had to talk her out of it- and was more than willing to buy presents for the people she cared for.

When NC Little Theatre had announced their own remake of the beloved classic Lena had been one of the first to buy tickets, purchasing two for the V.I.P box and then waiting impatiently in the mail for them to be sent to her. As efficient as email was, something about receiving a letter made things seem more…. Real, or rather she had wanted to hand Kara the two tickets herself. Just printing them out seemed impersonal.

And it had been worth the extra effort when Kara had seen the envelope with the lightly engraved outline of the theatre on the front and had excitedly exclaimed, “Are we going to a show?”

Lena hadn’t hidden her smile as Kara tore the envelope open and descended on the tickets.

“The LION KING?!”

Other dinners in the café had glanced over and Lena was certain she heard a few dogs start to howl but ignored it in favour of Kara’s beaming smile.

At her nod Kara had nearly thrown herself across the table to wrap her up in her arms while squealing in her ear. Since then Lena had been met with a daily countdown in the form of numbers and increasingly excited emojis. As the weeks turned into days Kara had even started to send her pictures of her excited self. Lena found one in particular, a photo of Kara in the afternoon sunshine staring nobly into the distance with a caption of, ‘Two days to go! Can’t wait!’, the most charming, but it was followed closely by the second. Kara was peering at the camera with an eyebrow raised comically along with the text, ‘I did my waiting! 12 years of it! In Azkaban!’ while showing off her outfit for the evening.

She’d then meet Lena down town, in the same outfit, and with a bright grin that had made Lena’s breath catch.  Kara was wearing grey jeans with a black, grey and white plaid shirt, which Lena noted she had rolled up to her elbows, with a set of black converse shoes.

“I’m so excited!” Lena winced a little at the loud volume but returned the embrace happily.

“I can see that,” she laughed a little as she pulled away and her fingertips did not trail over the exposed skin of Kara’s forearms.

Kara beamed at her and lifted a hand to adjust her glasses. Lena’s fingers twitched with the urge to run her hands along the warm skin again.

“This is gonna be so awesome!” Kara was beaming and her eyes were twinkling and Lena felt her heart summersault and forced it down.

Kara’s smile was slightly curled as she glanced over at her, but Lena could see her attention was on the snack vendors and rolled her eyes fondly.

“It starts at six thirty,” Lena said and gestured Kara forward. “Go and get some snacks and I’ll get the programs.”

Kara grinned at her and disappeared in between the crowd in search of snack food.

Shaking her head fondly Lena made her way to a stand selling the official program and merchandise, purchasing a program for each of them and she hesitated in front of the animal face masks. Making a note to maybe come back to them later she pocketed her change, slid her bag over her shoulder, and searched through the crowd for Kara.

She found her shortly afterwards, carrying a ridiculous amount of popcorn, several ice-creams, and a bundle of lolly bags. She was grinning above her horde and Lena had to remind herself she was in public and couldn’t smile at her best friend like a sap.

“Do they have anything left to sell? I’m surprised you haven’t eaten it all,” she teased, speaking of the full popcorn box and Kara blinked at her bashfully.

“I already ate one,” she said and her nose crinkled adorably and Lena let out a chuckle.

“Of course you did,” she reached for a few bags of lollies, hoping to ease Kara’s burden.

Kara shrugged good-naturedly, completely at ease with her appetite around Lena now. Lena had been startled with how much Kara ate, had figured that she must consume well over the normal dietary intake of a normal adult but had merely accepted that her friend needed it and moved on. She wasn’t about to judge.

They made their way to their seats, directed into the V.I.P section of the theatre, to which Kara gave a supressed squeal of delight, and almost threw her popcorn over her shoulder and into the lap of the woman they’d just passed.

Mouthing an apology Kara quickly settled into her seat, nearly dropping an ice-cream and rescued it with a satisfied grin. Lena just smiled at her and took her own seat.

“Which song are you most excited for?” She asked, curious about Kara’s favourite song. She’d briefly skimmed over the songs, and had listened to the soundtrack while on the treadmill, but she hadn’t actually seen any Disney movie. Lillian had never allowed it, and Lex had been far more interested in sharing Star Wars with her, and perhaps that was something the criminal phycologists would find intriguing, than talking animals and the childish stories of Disney.

“Hakuna Matata- oh! Wait, no! Can you feel the love tonight!” Kara’s face scrunched up and then brightened. “The circle of life!” Her shoulders slumped. “Even though I have no idea what they’re singing  at the start. It’s a classic,” she told Lena seriously.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Lena said and handed the snacks back to Kara, who was already alternating between ice-cream and popcorn. She managed to juggle her new snacks admirably and Lena knew there was a method to it.

“Its such a good movie,” Kara nearly groaned. “And the second one is just as good! Adult Simba is such a cool dude, but Kiera is awesome!”

“There’s a sequel?” Lena asked, having no pop-culture knowledge to understand much of what Kara had explained.

Kara’s glasses nearly flew from her face with how quickly she turned. “You haven’t seen it?!”

“No?” Lena offered, bemused. “I haven’t seen any Disney movie….”

“What?!” Kara’s absolute horror was endearing, and Lena didn’t feel a prickle of unease like she would if she were discussing her childhood with anyone else.

A half smiled lifted her mouth and she gave a little shrug. “We never watched television,” she offered in explanation, wanting Kara to see where she was coming from and to not look at her with pity, she didn’t think she could stand it if she did. “And if we did, it was something educational.”

Kara met her eyes a moment, eyes grave before brightening. “That means you can watch them with me!” She grinned and seemed to swell with joy. She nearly clapped her hands together, but paused just in time to prevent her ice-cream and popcorn colliding. But knowing Kara, Lena figured the combination wouldn’t be too distasteful.

“This is gonna be great!” Kara said and was discussing the order they needed to watch the movies, which song was her favourite, and the characters she loved the most right up until the lights dimmed for the play.

Lena spent much of her time watching Kara watch the play, mouth moving to the words and a grin on her face as she occasionally blindly offered Lena a lolly or some pop-corn. Lena declined. When she did choose to watch the musical, she was very impressed. The sets and props were colourful and vibrant, and the actors were beautiful painted and their passion and skill in their craft was clear.

She was thoroughly enjoying herself and allowed a mental pat on the back for a good gift by the time the intermission came.

Kara’s joy made her breathless and she was helpless in the face of her grin.

“This is soooo cool, Lena! Thank you!” She half-launched herself from her seat to give Lena a hug, and Lena noted that there wasn’t a stray popcorn kernel or a smear of forgotten chocolate on her person. Kara was thorough when it came to food, that was for sure.

Lena was part way through her response, brushing it off as something friends did for each other, when Kara went still, sudden contained energy and with her head titled. It reminded Lena of a dog caught on a scent, all vibrating energy and coiled power.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” she said rather suddenly, and Lena frowned slightly.

“Is everything okay?” She asked but Kara was already up and out of her seat.

“I might grab a snack as well,” she said, eyes looking elsewhere, “be back soon.”

A confused Lena let Kara go. Kara’s oddities were part of her and Lena was not one to judge, but she did wish Kara would talk to her a little more.

She thumbed through her phone and was checking in on her stock prices when discontent rippled through the crowd. The fine hair at her nape warned her of something… and she obeyed it. Getting to her feet she made sure both her and Kara’s belongings were with her- Kara had taken her bag, which was odd- and quickly moved towards the exit.

There was a rumble of unease the closer she got to the exit and she felt her heartrate accelerate and a slightly thick feeling in her chest.

“What’s happening,” she asked, seeing a lot of theatre goers staring out the windows and many had their phones out.

When she got her reply she felt dread fall upon her as though a bucket of ice had been poured on her.

“Reign.”

“What?” She demanded and the patron cast her a second glance, double taking in recognition.

“Supergirl and Reign,” he said and quickly turned his attention back to the fight happening out on the street. Supergirl and Reign were facing each other down in the middle of the street, the dark Kryptonian holding a man by the throat and gesturing strongly back at the Maid of Might.

Heart thumping in her chest she glanced back behind her looking desperately for Kara and wasn’t sure what to think when she couldn’t see her. Maybe she was still in the bathroom? Surely, she wasn’t out there trying to get the scoop or even worse, trying to help Supergirl. Lena could hope.

Outside Supergirl and Reign had clearly reached an impasse and their movements were a blur as the two leapt at each other, and collided with a roar like thunder.

People started to scream and pushed back into the building, trying to get away from the fight. The collision of two gods echoed and roared as they fought in the middle of the street with the crack of thunder.

“Get away from the windows,” Lena ordered as she assessed the situation. Though there would be no stopping anything from coming through the glass if the two Kryptonian’s wanted it, at least the bystanders wouldn’t be in the direction line of it.

Other people were staring to take her advice and were fleeing back into the bowls of the building, perhaps hoping the concrete and steel would protect them, others were pressing forward, wanting to see what was happening.

The mysterious Kryptonian had only recently beaten Supergirl in a brutal fight and for some reason, probably to instil fear of her, had let Supergirl live. But now it looked like she was ready to finish the job.

To her credit Supergirl met her head on without fear, probably knowing how the fight was going to end, but facing it with her head held high. It was an acceptance Lena understood, and she was ready to help however she could.

After the first defeat she had looked into Lex’s old files, files she hadn’t seen in years, and had tried to find something that could help Supergirl and her allies. She was fortunate enough that Lex’s vault had the needed blueprints, and she had already started on the designs, but she was clearly not early enough. And she, and the government team that worked with Supergirl, weren’t going to be able to do much against the Kryptonian. She briefly wished for Kryptonite. That, at least, should be able to deal some damage to the reaper, even if Supergirl would be in danger from it.

The centre of the street was torn up, and the traffic had come to a halt at both ends, with people driving into their neighbours and abandoning their vehicles, trying to get away. It would be difficult for any aid to get through them, and to then get through the burning vehicles the fight was causing.

A sudden whip-like crack sent a figure in blue and red flying through the air and when Supergirl hit the ground she tore a great gouge in the concrete before she eventually halted.

Reign zoomed up to her as Lena’s heart pounded and she stood above the fallen hero and reached down to grab her. A blue sleeve came to paw uselessly at the unmovable grip steadily squeezing the life from her.

Lena couldn’t hear the words, but knew some were being spoken.

The people around her were silent in their terror and horror, and the fear was thick and stale in the air.

“Mommy,” a quiet voice asked, trembling, “is Supergirl gonna die?”

Lena felt sick and the feeling welled in her until it choked her throat, desperately clawing for a way out.

“I don’t know,” the mother replied quietly and her words lingered in the air.

Her feet guided her forward, desperate to get out of the building and some hands grabbed her to halt her but she pulled away, and when that didn’t persuade some of the more desperate, her glare did.

There was steam rising from the cars and street where the two had beaten each other into the ground, and the heat from burning cars fanned her face. Little embers were in the groove that Supergirl had left and Lena absently noted how pretty they were, glowing like coals, as she walked towards the two.

She wasn’t entirely sure what her plan was, but she was driven by the need to do something.

“Stop!” She shouted as she got closer, knowing that the two would be able to hear her regardless, but shouting was a way to let her emotions out. She didn’t stop to think. If she thought about it she might wonder what the fuck she was doing.

“Reign! Stop!”

Both Kryptonian’s turned to face her. Reign, in a precise birdlike movement, every lithe line of her screaming predator, and Supergirl more slowly, forcing her head to turn against the angle.

Her lips moved, likely in a plea for her to run but Lena ignored it. She was committed now, for better or for worse, and no Luthor would kneel to an alien, not now, not ever.

“Stay out of this, human,” Reign spoke and fear ran icy fingers down the length of her spine and she went cold all over.

“No,” she said firmly as she got closer, ignoring how her heart raced. “Leave her alone.”

“Female, this is no concern of yours,” the voice was eerie and foreign and rippled with malice. “I am truth. I am judgement. I am death.”

“Supergirl is a protector of this city. She defends the innocent! Why are you fighting her?” Lena demanded as she got closer, close enough to try and beseech the destroyer, but fear had paralysed her muscles and she could go no further. As it was every survival instinct she had was demanding she run away, very quickly. Her heart rate was pounding in her ears and she could almost taste her own life force coating the back of her tongue.

“She interferes,” Reign informed her and Lena had the uncomfortable resemblance to when Lillian would tell her something, the same tone and certainty that she was right and that Lena couldn’t possibly understand. “I must cleanse this world and all those who oppose me,” the dark eyes returned to Supergirl and Lena caught the weak attempts at fighting her off.

“She’s Kryptonian!” Lena said suddenly, as though kin may halt the impending murder.

The dismissive scoff was audible even to Lena’s ears and Supergirl’s head was tilted back as the muscles in Reign’s arms flexed beneath the dark material of her suit. “I am nothing like her,” she sneered. “I am stronger and faster and superior in every way! My makers made me thousands of years ago to cleanse the world of sin. I am a Worldkiller!”

“You are not superior in every way,” Lena shot back, heart pounding in her veins as though aware her time were running out. In the distance she could hear sirens and the thrum of a helicopter. If she could delay Reign then maybe Supergirl’s team could save her, or at least show up to halt the Worldkiller.

Reign’s head snapped back to her and through the sinister mask she could almost see Reigns offence.

“I am,” she declared and there was almost pride in her tone.

“No,” Lena said and shook her head and Supergirl mumbled something Lena missed and then her fingers clawed at the back of the gauntlet as Reign tightened her grip in warning.

“Why do you think this, human?” Reign spat. “I have bested your champion before, and have bested her now. How am I not superior to this phoney god?”

“You may be stronger and faster,” Lena admitted, head coming up proudly. She could defend Supergirl. Supergirl who Kara believed in so strongly, who had gone willing to a fight that may prove to be her last all in the name of the symbol on her chest. Supergirl was an inspiration. She was a guiding light for those who wanted to be better. Oh how she hoped Kara were still inside. Hopefully pressed at the back so she didn’t have to witness what was going to happen to Lena, but she couldn’t be sure of it. So Lena would face death with her head high.

“But you are not better,” Lena said firmly and shook her head.

An inhuman sound escaped Reign and she pulled her arm back and threw Supergirl away. Lena couldn’t track the movement but heard the crash and bang of Supergirl’s landing and winced in sympathy before she had more pressing matters to deal with.

Reign stood directly in front of her, head cocked to the side.

She cut a very impressive figure dressed in black, and Lena knew that was the reason for the colour scheme. The skull with its mouth open ready to devour a planet was also telling.

Her suit appeared to have a base layer to it like the Kryptonian’s did, a suit that, according to Lex’s files, all Kryptonian’s wore beneath their outer clothes as both formal wear and combat gear. On top of it she had gauntlets and a similar metal was over her shoulders, likely connecting her cape, which fell longer than Supergirl’s did. Her belt looked like it was made from the same metal as well, curving elegantly beneath an odd ripped leather on her torso, beneath her crest. The mask was a little creepy, but no less elegant, but paired with the dark eyes and lipstick her proximity made Lena recoil.

“You appear to believe what you are saying, human,” Reign said and if Lena didn’t know better she would say that Reign was confused by her defiance.

“Yes,” Lena said squarely and then Reign was right in front of her, lifting her by the throat and she could feel her heart rate picking up as it planned to go out with all it had. Fear and panic clawed at her insides and she instinctively clutched at the rigid power holding her hostage. She knew she wouldn’t be able to escape the hold, but it didn’t stop her from trying. She was also, distantly, glad that she hadn’t worn heels today. Some part of her wanted to die fully clothed thank you very much. If she was going to die, and have her death plastered all over the world by morning, she wanted to do it with as much dignity as possible.

“Your protector is powerless to protect you,” Reign told her. “She cannot even protect herself. She is powerless. I will reign!”

“You claim you are better,” Lena choked out, and science was something she could get behind. “But evolution always wins and she is better than you will ever be.”

The head tilted again, sharp and predatory, and Lena wondered if, maybe, the Kryptonain’s were descended from birds.

“What do you speak of, female?”

Lena tapped the arm slightly, asking for a looser hold as it was getting hot and hard to breathe. Reign’s fingers twitched and Lena gasped hurriedly, pulling air thick with smoke and blood, Supergirl’s, into her lungs.

“Thank you,” she wheezed and panted heavily.

“Answer me, human!”

It took Lena a moment to gather her thoughts, and she could see emergency vehicles at the end of the road, lights flashing on top of black vehicles. The thud of a helicopter had merged into the baseline of the city and Lena hoped they were getting ready to do something. She was getting tired of continuously saving the day.

“She’s not weaker because she helps people,” Lena rasped out and idly wondered if she was going to grow a few inches though knew it was highly unlikely. Still, it felt like she was being stretched, pulled by her own weight and gravity towards the ground.

“She’s better because she has learnt more-“

“I have the entirety of Krypton’s knowledge at my disposal,” Reign interrupted and there was something else lacing her tone, was that uncertainty?

“And yet you resort to violence to get what you want,” Lena shot back, adrenaline rushing through her system. Part of her cursed at her defiance, the other parts of her clung to her own belief in the human spirit, the hope that she had for what humanity could be. “Wasn’t that bred out of Krpytonian’s because it was considered archaic? Doesn’t that make you primitive?”

The grip around her throat tightened in warning and Lena winced and rasped. She could feel her own pulse against the oddly warm skin of the fingers around her neck.

“Look at them, human,” Reign said, and Lena tried to squirm her way out of the vice-like grip on her. She was going to bruise tomorrow damnit, if she survived. “They do not care for your plight. They only care for themselves.”

Reign’s dark eyes turned back to her. “Will you not beg for your life like so many others? They will not beg for you.”

Lena knew that were true. Knew that they were probably watching with fear and horror and probably with phones out, ready to catch the moment an alien finally killed the only Luthor that gave a damn about everyone.

“Its not apathy, its fear,” Lena told her, firm in her belief. If she was going to die, she was going to have her say. Nothing could stop Reign, not the police, not the military, not even Supergirl, if Reign decided to kill Lena then she was as good as dead. “Those without fear, those with power, can and will help each other. Even powerless, Supergirl is more than you can ever be.”

“Humans are weak and pathetic for putting their faith in a fallen god,” Reign sneered, and Lena tried to nod.

“That’s the funny thing about humans,” she said dryly thinking of her own family and what they had believed and why they had done what they had. Then she thought of other people, people who fought for those who couldn’t, people who risked everything every day for others. Lena believed in that. “They believe in things they cannot see. They believe in things that aren’t real.”

“We strive to be better,” she rasped, and spared a brief thought for what she looked like now, probably as red as a tomato and with as much drool as a bloodhound. “We keep learning and evolving, trying to understand ourselves and others. Supergirl will always be better than you,” Lena said and the arm lifted in warning but she wouldn’t stop until she were dead, that much she wanted Reign to know. She couldn’t squish the life out of humans, couldn’t crush the fire and hope out of them. Lena would impart that on Reign if it were the last thing she did.

“How can you be better if you don’t try to evolve? If you are unwilling to learn? You can’t rule humanity if you don’t understand us. Love and hope fight fear and hate,” Lena told her, forcing the words out with the last vestiges of her breath over the bands of steel around her throat. “And we will never kneel because of it.”

Her vision was greying, the street lights and fire burning behind reign fading until only the dark mask remained. Dark eyes were keeping her conscious as pain flared behind her eyes and her heart thumped sluggishly. They held her, trying to pry her open and see her darkest secrets.

It was the last thing she saw.


	2. Chapter 2

“Human!”

The sudden and certainly unwelcome announcement made Lena yelp and she spun, wet hair flicking into her face.

“What the actual fuck!” Lena stared at the WorldKiller in her bathroom with undisguised horror.

The steam from her shower clung to the air and though her extractor fan was working overtime, the heat she enjoyed in her bathing was evident on the mirror. The black clad villain looked even more sinister in the elegant open plan of her ensuite. Her shower was in the corner with a glass barrier for protection and a seat set into the wall. Black tiles were set into the entire floor and the dark wooden accents gave an elegance to the room.

“What the fuck, Reign?!” Lena shrieked and dove for her towel and clutched it to her desperately.  Was the Kryptonian here to finish the job? Had someone finally deemed Lena worthy of death for the sins of her family?

“Get away from me!” Her heart was thumping in her chest, beating out a plea for help and Lena’s chest rose and fell in fear as her fight/flight response kicked in.

“I am not here to hurt you,” Reign informed her calmly, tilting her head and later Lena would assume she was listening for the frantic beat of her heart. “You have not sinned.”

Lena’s stampeding heart stopped for a moment before continuing. “What?” She asked weakly, certain she hadn’t heard Reign correctly and the pounding continued, sluggish in her thickened veins.

“You are not a sinner,” the WorldKiller informed her as though speaking of something as simple as the sky being blue. “I will not deliver justice upon you.”

Lena nodded, throat tightening, perhaps in recollection of the Kryptonian’s long fingers around her throat. Could it be that easy? She wondered. Could Reign be telling the truth? She’d had nightmares for days and her sleep had been fitful, full of dark eyes and smothering darkness. Did she think Lena would just believe her? But Reign had made no further move into the room, she was just watching Lena and she was abruptly aware of her post-shower state.

“Right,” she swallowed and released a gush of breath. “Okay,” she gave a little nod and wet her lips. She would take the WorldKiller at her word. If Reign wanted her dead, then she would be dead, and if she had said that Lena was not about to be judged, then Lena had more pressing concerns. Like being naked and wet in front of a stranger. Her fear was fading into anger and she had just enough of it to overrule her logical mind.

“Then get the fuck out of my bathroom!” Being naked in front of a WorldKiller, and in front of the one who had nearly killed her earlier in the week, was not on the top of her to-do list. It didn’t matter that Reign had x-ray vision and could see through anything Lena tried to hide herself with, being so vulnerable and open was something she rarely did.

The WorldKiller tilted her head. “But you are going to teach me,” she said, and Lena blinked at her, feeling the water dripping down her body as her hands fisted into the fabric of her towel.

“What?” She asked weakly, heart-rate slowing and she could hear a roaring in her ears and bit down on her tongue to banish the feeling. The sharp pain banished some of the fog and the aftertaste, thick and metallic, reminded her of when she woke up after thinking she was going to die.

It had been four days since Lena had defended Supergirl to Reign and the Kryptonian had decided to spare her life.

Lena had awoken hours later in hospital in a private room with government security, lead by a familiar face. Alex Danvers.

The men and women Alex had with her guarding her at the hospital were highly trained, that much Lena had been assured of, and when Alex had mentioned that they were the ones who worked with Supergirl, Lena had understood. They needed her statement and  were there to protect her from possible retribution from the cities newest villain. Agent Danvers and Detective Maggie Sawyer of the NCPD had asked for her statement while the head doctors of the hospital had hovered over Lena.

Her throat had been beyond sore, it had felt like there was glass in it every time she swallowed or spoke, and the ice-chips the nurses had given to her were a god-send. Breathing had been an absolute nightmare, her chest feeling like it was on fire every time she inhaled, and that was before she took stock of the more visible injuries. She’d seen them after her interview, in the unfortunately high-quality camera-phone that she owned. One of her eyes was bloodshot, the other droopy- she looked an absolute mess, and that was before she lowered the camera to look at her neck. Unfortunately for her, because she was so white, her skin both bruised and burnt easily, and it looked as though she was wearing a scarf of angry purple and red, with the outlines of fingers turning a dull yellow.

It was not her best look and she was immeasurably thankful for Jess, who had been stationed outside her room, apparently refusing to move and arguing valiantly with the FBI, waiting faithfully for her boss. She’d even got her a new set of clothes, aviators, and a large red scarf, as though it could hide the damage that Reign had done, even without effort.

Her interview with Agent Danvers, and with the Detective that had arrested her, which had been an odd experience, had gone the way she had known it would.

They wanted to know what she was doing down town, who she had been with, and Lena had nearly launched herself from the bed in an attempt to grab Alex. She’d noticed the agent tensing and the detective reaching for her hip but had ignored it.

“Kara! Is Kara okay?!” She demanded, ripping the words from her mouth and hearing it crack with the effort.

Alex had immediately reassured her that Kara was fine. That she had been stuck behind the theatre goers and had immediately tried to get to Lena but she had been rushed off to hospital.

Lena slumped back in the bed relieved and sent off a silent thanks to whatever deity that may have been listening for Kara’s safety. She did not believe, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t look to a higher power in times of need, it just so happened to be that Lena’s higher power was often the best of humanity.

“And Supergirl?” She asked as she remembered why she had interfered with the grudge match.

Alex and Detective Sawyer exchanged a glance. “She’s alive,” Alex said slowly, eyes shrewd and Lena let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.

“Miss Luthor,” Alex began slowly. “Witness’ say that you ran out to confront Reign. Can you tell me about that?”

Lena hesitated and glanced between the two women. Her story, when she finally formed the words, was halting and polished. She told the truth, but not all of it, or at least not things she didn’t think were important to the interview, like exactly what she had said, exactly what Reign had said. It was all a blur now anyway.

“I did,” she rasped out and took another careful sip of water. It burnt with cool fire on its way down her throat, and she cold feel the wave of it as it descended.

“Why?” The detective asked and Alex elaborated.

“Why did you think it would work? Getting Reign to release Supergirl?”

Lena hesitated and slowly worked through her rationale. Truthfully she didn’t know exactly why she though that maybe Reign could see reason, only that the self-proclaimed WorldKiller and judge, jury and executioner had only targeted the people she thought were sinners. She had left the innocent be, in fact she had gone out of her way to target the people in the wrong, finding criminals that the authorities couldn’t or wouldn’t. It stood to reason she had some sort of code. Lena had hoped to find out what the code was, and endear Supergirl in it, to show the WorldKiller that Supergirl was not the enemy, that she should be spared.

There had been a strange look in Alex’s eyes when she had asked Lena for what she had said when confronting Reign but Lena couldn’t remember, only that she had tried to talk Reign down.

She didn’t remember much of the words, only remembered Reign staring into her eyes as though she were seeing her soul with the fathomless pits and weighting her every sin.

Alex told her that Reign had dropped her-lowered, according to witnesses- on the ground and had taken off. She hadn’t been seen since. No one knew why she spared Lena, or why she hadn’t returned for Supergirl. They thought that Lena may have an idea, but she couldn’t help them.

Once the interview was conducted, Maggie had exited, Alex had hovered. It was the most out of place Lena had ever seen the woman look, and she figured being awkward was not something Alex Danvers was familiar with.

“You saved Supergirl’s life,” she said abruptly, and her dark, expressive eyes were warm. Her fingers curled uselessly against the dark material of her uniform before she pointedly crossed her arms.

“Thank you.” She was obviously sincere, and Lena gave a little nod.

Usually no one thanked her for what she did, and it was nice to get some form of recognition, even if it was from someone she didn’t particularly care for. Kara did though, and the acknowledgement warmed Lena, if only slightly.

“We will set up a protection det-“

“No,” Lena interrupted and immediately regretted her haste as the word cracked at the back of her throat and caused a coughing fit. It hacked at her chest as though someone were using an axe on it.

Alex had to offer her some water and Lena gratefully accepted it, forcing it down and spluttering a little more until the ache subsided, but it burnt still, like coals in a fire.

“No,” Lena repeated and gave a shake of her head. “If Reign can brutalise Supergirl not once but twice, then no human can stand a change against her and I’ll not risk the lives of your agents unnecessarily.”

To her surprise Alex didn’t even argue the point with her, and Lena was certain she saw respect in Kara’s sisters eyes as she thanked her again and exited.

Jess had been allowed inside then, and had been strictly professional, but Lena could see how shaken her assistant was. She looked harried and exhausted and Lena wondered just how her loyal and competent secretary had handled Lena’s public almost murder and the fall-out from it.

Lena had asked for a report as she had accepted the clothes Jess had brought for her and had gingerly gotten out of the very uncomfortable hospital bed. Jess had been efficient and thorough as she told Lena what was happening on social media, in the news, and with her stock prices with regards to her evening. It was not as bad as it could have been, and Lena knew she had Jess to thank for that, and made a mental note to give her assistant a raise.

“What’s waiting for me outside?” Lena enquired as she pulled some shoes on. She was exhausted enough to be willing to forgo an impeccable appearance in favour of returning home to her own bed and the supposed safety of her own home. She wanted to lock every door, bar every window, shut herself in her room and then burry herself under her covers where she could maybe find a semblance of safety. It would be a feeble fantasy, adults knew the truth of the world and that monsters could get you under the covers, but just for a moment she hoped that she could hide within the harbour of the dark and take shelter from the storm outside.

“A shitstorm,” Jess told her dryly and Lena placed her aviators on her nose.

“I’ve got three cars downstairs,” Jess told her, and Lena took a steadying breath as she tied the scarf around her neck, wincing at the worried bruises.

“All right,” she let out a sigh and glanced at her faithful secretary. “Time to face the music,” she said tiredly, and Jess clutched her tablet to her as though it were a shield, or maybe held a weapon.

She walked on slightly unsteady legs towards the door and inhaled powerfully, ignoring the strain on her lungs and the ache in her chest.

She was a Luthor.

She let that thought fill her, roll through her body and thrum in her veins.

As she exhaled she took the force of the knowledge, the power of her name and blood, and let it settle over her shoulders.

Shoulders back, spine straight, chin up. Walk with pride. Walk with grace. You are a Luthor. Own your power.

It was what she had been raised with, and only know knew that it was the truth, that it ran in her veins, it was her power, for better or for worse, and she would own it. She was Lena Luthor.

By the time she reached the door and opened the handle, with just enough strength and speed to seem cool and calm and collected, Lena Luthor, CEO of L-Corp and youngest leader of a fortune 500 hundred company, and she had challenged a god and had won.

As she hit the linoleum she was ready for whatever the world was going to throw at her.

To her surprise it was Alex Danvers waiting for her. Tucking her phone into her pocket she offered a half smile that made her look years younger.

“Thought I’d offer you a ride,” she said and tapped her fingers on her thigh almost nervously. Lena was struck with the idea that Alex didn’t really want to offer her a ride, but was doing so out of obligation? Or some misplaced sense of repayment?

“That isn’t necessary, Agent Danvers,” Lena said smoothly and kept walking down the hall, Jess on her heels. “Jess has arranged transportation.”

Alex snorted. “You’ll meet a hundred paparazzi the moment you step out the door. I have a better idea.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong. A good dozen paparazzi followed her every day and when something big happened the amount would double and sometimes even triple. She didn’t need the headache of it.

“I’m listening,” she croaked as she came to a halt in the corridor and stepped to the side to allow people to pass if they wished. A few nurses and other hospital guests were eyeing the trio curiously but didn’t stop and Lena figured that each person had been vetted to get to this section of the hospital. It would make sense, otherwise anybody could have gotten in to see Lena or get a report on her or something.

“We’ll go out the back,” Alex said and flashed her a grin, mischievous and youthful in one. “And drive right past them.”

Lena gave it a moments thought, nodding to Jess in agreement before turning back to Alex.

“Alright. Lead on.”

Alex’s movements were quick and confident as she lead them down the corridor and through another one. People gave them little more than a cursory glance as they hurried by and Lena was both thankful and sad for it. She didn’t like being the centre of attention but these people were busy because somewhere in the hospital someone was hurt and in need of help. There was always someone who was worse off, she considered as she followed Alex though a smaller hallway.

At the end Alex turned and glanced up at the camera and pointed to the door. A few moments later it clicked open, the light flashing green, and then Alex opened the door.

Jess was left inside with a quiet thanks and a squeeze of her arm, and there were tears in her secretary’s eyes as Lena thanked her for everything.

Lena and Alex walked quickly past containers and stacks of supplies and even a parked forklift to where a black motorcycle with a helmet over the handlebars was waiting.

Lena let out a little sigh but inwardly applauded Alex. Even if people were expecting her to ride out on a motorcycle, if she was with someone else it would further throw them off the scent.

The agent strode confidently over to the bike and placed her palm on the back seat and it folded open. To Lena’s surprise there was a helmet inside and also a few guns, grenades, and other combat related things in it.  Alex retrieved the second helmet and tossed it at her, grabbing her own as the seat clicked back into place.

Lena put the helmet on as Alex straddled the bike and placed her palm on a park of the tank. A green ripple ran across the identification key and the bike rumbled to life.

Kicking the stand back Alex held the bike up and her grin vanished into the helmet. “Hop on,” she said as she secured the helmet at her throat.

Lena was not above admitting she was just a little charmed by the scene and raw confidence Alex excluded. Soon enough they were driving out of the hospital loading garage and onto the hospital road.

Alex was right. No one gave them a second glance as they sped from the hospital (though it probably helped that Lena Luthor’s secretary was spotted trying to exit through another door and surely her boss would be behind her?) and soon Lena was riding the elevator to her home.

Once inside she had locked every door and window and had then shut herself in her bathroom. She stripped down, pointedly ignoring the mirror, and stepped into her shower, turning the water as hot as she could bear, and then she had broken down, silently where no one could witness it.

She hadn’t been able to go back to work, and she was of two minds about it. On the one hand it took a little bit for her voice to recover, and a few days for the red of her eyes to fade (not that the bruises around her neck would fade any time soon) so she was glad she didn’t have to talk to anyone. But she was also very bored and thankful that Jess sent her emails and updates and even forwarded on some of the more easy jobs probably knowing that boredom was driving Lena mad.

Everyday she forced herself to get up and read- not the paper, though, not after the first thing she had seen was her own body weightless in the air and connected to a wrathful god, no, not the paper- instead she caught up on journal’s she’d been meaning to read but hadn’t found the time. She would exercise, gently at first but then with more energy as her body warmed up, and they she would shower, quickly, and then have a light meal. After breakfast it was some more reading, a little bit of music- the baby grand in her apartment had no doubt been delighted to sing even if it were clumsy and out of practice- and then a bit of work.

Jess had been clever and had rebuilt the L-Corp firewalls to ensure Lena couldn’t hack her own company to find more work to do. Lena had been so impressed by Jess’ dedication that she had turned away from the idea with good grace. If Jess was so determined to keep Lena away from too much work that she tried to keep Lena out, then Lena would stay out, as a favour to Jess.

Her phone was silent-probably because she turned it off the moment she had crawled her way out of the shower and had collapsed on the bed- and she hadn’t been able to muster the energy to check it, and so she lived quietly in her own little bubble as she tried to heal. Until now.

“How can you teach me if we are not in the same room?” The WorldKiller asked and her head tilted in an almost puppy-like fashion, if something as dangerous Cerberus could be considered puppy-like. Which brought her back to her present problem.

“Teach you- what?” Lena’s brain scrambled for purchase on some sort of normalcy.

“You addressed an incompetence in my education, human,” Reign said, head straightening. “It must be rectified.”

Clutching her clothes to her Lena tried to grasp at the one-sided conversation she was currently having in her bathroom naked with the being that had tried to kill her last week. Reign wanted her to, what, teach her something?

What, exactly, could she teach a being that had access to knowledge far beyond anything earth had even dreamed of?

“You will teach me,” Reign repeated and Lena blinked.

“Get out of my bathroom,” she demanded and used her shoulder to move some damp hair from her face. She would have this conversation, whatever it was, when she was fully dressed thank you very much.

The WorldKiller stared at her a moment and was then gone, the door shut behind her and it could have all almost been in Lena’s head if it weren’t for the way her towel was still swinging from the speed of Reign’s departure.

With Reign gone it finally felt as though Lena could breathe and she grabbed at her towel rack and then sink with a shaking hand as she tried to process what had happened in between sharp breaths.

What had just happened? Reign wanted her to teach her about…humans?

She gave it a moments thought, mind racing as she considered the options.

She was hardly a champion of humanity, hardly worthy of accolades shouted from rooftops, she only knew what she believed. But if Reign wanted her to teach her, to show her what humanity could be, then Lena was going to show her everything. Show her how people banded together in the toughest of times, how it was human nature, instinct, for them to nourish and protect and rescue. Yes, they had their faults; they were greedy and vein and shallow and capable of incomprehensible cruelty, but they were so much more than that. They could be kind and gentle and caring and so impossibly good.

If Reign wanted to be judge, jury, and executioner, then Lena would at least make sure that the WorldKiller understood that humanity was cast in shades of grey, with ribbons of malicious black and beams of virtuous white. If she were to reign, Lena wanted to make sure that Reign knew just what she was getting into. And she could also use the implied proximity to try and change the Kryptonian… as well as get any information on her that could be used to bring her, and any others, down. Lena was a pragmatist like that.

Straightening she quickly towelled herself dry and grabbed her pyjamas, and her dressing gown, even though it was rather warm tonight, for protection. A stranger was in her apartment and she wanted to face her with as much armour as possible.

Reign was in her bedroom, standing at the window with her hands clasped behind her back and gazing out into the city.

She pivoted when Lena entered the room.

“Okay,” Lena sighed. “Start at the beginning.”

Dark eyes blinked. “I want you to teach me about humans, Earthling.”

“Yes. I gathered that,” Lena said, towelling her hair. She knew she should be afraid, and part of her was, the other part of her was telling her that maybe, just maybe, she could get something out of Reign, something she could use to defeat her.

“But what brought this on?”

“You stood against me, human, with only your words,” Reign said, and her mouth firmed into a line. Lena swallowed. Was Reign… impressed with her?  “For that, you have my respect.”

The WorldKiller gave a little nod. “You made me aware of a disparity in my education and I require you to rectify it. I cannot rule what I do not understand, it has been made clear to me.”

Lena took a steadying breath. “You want me to teach you about humans?” She asked for clarification. She would ignore the…rulership... comment for the moment.

“Yes.”

“Why me?” Her heart hammered in her chest, but oddly not with fear. She was a Luthor, she wouldn’t bow to fear, instead she was almost nervous. What if she taught Reign wrong and she decided humanity should perish? Or what if she taught her right and she abandoned her quest, what then?

“You are intelligent,” Reign clasped her fist behind her back, looking oddly military like. “Have access to immense resources, resources that I can use, and…” Reign hesitated a moment as Lena’s eyes narrowed, was Reign planning on using her money? “You look me in the eyes, human.”

Lena blinked, breaking said eye contact.

“It is refreshing,” Reign continued, and her head tilted. “Are you afraid of me?”

Lena took a moment to carefully consider her words. “You can’t live in fear,” she informed the alien across her bedroom, pulling her towel from her hair and digging her fingers into it.

“That wasn’t an answer,” Reign told her. “Answer it.”

“I’m afraid of what you can do, of what you’ve done,” Lena answered and forced her fingers to still, knowing Reign could probably hear her distress.

Reign nodded, perhaps in satisfaction, but Lena couldn’t tell through the mask.

“You should be. I am a WorldKiller.” There was pride there, in the tone. A quiet confidence.

“You’re a WorldKiller,” Lena agreed warily. “Your goal is to rule Earth and kill anyone who doesn’t conform to your own code.”

If it were possible the Kryptonian straightened.

“Only sinners,” Reign said. “It is my purpose. I am superior to any other being on Earth,” she continued and she almost sounded like a defensive toddler, only she was the most powerful being on the planet. “I will prove this to you, human. I am the pinnacle of evolution, every factor of my existence has passed rigorous tests and training. I will prove my purpose, that humanity needs to be cleansed, and I shall show this to you to. You will accompany me and you will see.”

Lena nodded slowly. So, Reign _had_ been offended by her comments that night. Had her words been able to challenge the WorldKiller so strongly? Was Reign instead after a witness, a juror as she cleansed earth by her own moral code, to prove that she was right? Was that why she wanted Lena to accompany her? To show Lena that she was wrong? “Will you kill me if I don’t?”

The WorldKiller shook her head once, a quick, jerking movement. “No. I will not harm you while you are Raozhium-teacher.”

“Will you hurt anyone else?” Lena asked quickly, needing to know the answer.

The WorldKiller hesitated and Lena spoke before she could answer.

“Because I’m not going to show you humanity if you’re going to kill. I refuse to be a part of that,” she said firmly, spine straightening. “If I’m going to show you what humans are like, what they can be, then you won’t hurt anyone.”

Dark eyes flared red in warning. “Do not presume to tell me what to do, human.”

“No,” Lena said, taking a step towards the alien. “No,” she said firmly, fully prepared to die for her words, for her beliefs. “If I show you, if you are willing to try to evolve, then you will not hurt or kill anyone.”

Lena was certain smoke plumed from Reign’s nostrils and then she was in Lena’s personal space.

Her heart leapt at the movement and proximity and she swallowed her sudden fear. No one had been this close to her since Reign had four days ago, Alex didn’t count as they had both been facing the same way.

“If you want to learn, to evolve, to become better, then you need to devote your energy to it. I want your full attention,” she said firmly, heart beating powerfully in her chest. She felt energised, like she were facing down stupid old men in the boardroom.

“I will not agree to that,” Reign’s eyes were dark and searching. “Why should I delay my quest, my purpose?”

“Because I don’t want to hear your excuses when I prove you wrong about us, about humans,” Lena shot back, chin tilting in challenge.

Sparks flared in the fathomless gaps between the mask.

“You have my word,” the WorldKiller slunk back. “That I will not seek sinners while under your tutorage, but if I come across them I will dispense justice upon them. I will defend myself.”

Lena let out a breath in a gush of air. That was better than she had hoped. Ideally Reign would walk calmly into a cell somewhere and tell the proper authorities how to contain her, but Lena would take all she could get.

“Agreed.” Lena said and offered her hand. Proper business practice had been enforced upon her since she could walk. She knew how to close a deal in every major culture in the world and in the ones L-Corp did business in. It was only practical.

“What are you doing?”

Lena blinked and partially recalled her fingers. “I’m offering my hand for a handshake,” she said, wondering if maybe the Kryptonian’s education didn’t factor in earth customs. It would make sense, she reasoned. All Reign appeared to know was the language, and so far it was only English.

“Why would your hand shake? Are you unwell?” Reign didn’t appear to be concerned for her health, just very bemused.

Lena let out a sigh. “Some human cultures shake hands upon reaching an agreement. I am offering mine to seal my end of the agreement.”

Reign’s head titled. “That is pedestrian. What is your agreement?”

Lena blinked. She hadn’t quite thought of that. Perhaps she should have worded her explanation better.

“Why is it pedestrian?”

“A word given,” Reign said firmly, “is a vow made.”

Well, Lena thought to herself. That was honourable.

“What is your agreement? What are you offering to this exchange?” Reign queried and Lena flinched.

“My resources and company,” she said dryly, hoping that it was good enough. She didn’t know what else the WorldKiller may want from her.

“We have reached an accord, human.” Reign said and eyed her hand, still hovering awkwardly in the space between them.

“A word given,” she said, lifting her gaze from it.

“All right,” Lena nodded slowly and took her hand back. “You won’t seek out anyone to hurt or kill while I’m showing you humanity and I’ll show you everything we have to offer.”

“Yes. I will see you, human,” was Reign’s parting words and Lena allowed herself a moment before collapsing on her bed.

Well, shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still have no idea where this is going :D


	3. Chapter 3

Her beginning of the ruin of her morning started out much the same as her ruined evening.

Only this time the ‘human!’ was accompanied by a loud bang and a crash as a WorldKiller descended from the ceiling.

Amidst the wreckage the Kryptonian gracefully glided to the ground to stand before Lena. Around her people were screaming and cowering and the press conference Lena was having regarding the exact alien derailed immediately.

“Reign,” Lena greeted and stepped away from her podium, heels clacking on the wood as she moved to meet her.

“Raozhium,” Reign’s voice echoed in the suddenly silent conference hall. People were still cowering, but their fear was paralysing, snatching their screams from their lips without a sound.

She spared a brief thought for Kara and hoped the reporter hadn’t been hit by any of the fallen roof, but it didn’t look like anyone had. Still, she couldn’t see her.

Camera’s were pointed on them as Lena calmly walked up to the steps towards the WorldKiller, who landed gently in the centre aisle, waiting for Lena.

“I am here.”

“I can see that,” Lena commented dryly, delicately side stepping a hunk of twisted metal from where Reign had come through the ceiling.

“I also see there is a giant hole in my once intact ceiling. Care to explain?” She lifted a brow pointedly. She knew she was playing a dangerous game, but if she and Reign were to have any semblance of respect between them then the WorldKiller needed to learn civility was the height of good manners, and Lena believed good manners were essential. It may not be a sign of the higher class, as Reign would like to think of it, for Lena knew people who like her grew up wanting for nothing and were as uncouth as a pig in a sty, and others who had fought for every shred of a living they possessed and were polite, but she did like to think it was a sign of a better person. Uncivility was a sign of the ignorant and Lena was a firm believer in standards. There were way things should be done.

“I came through the roof,” Reign said, tilting her head to the side as though she wasn’t admitting to destruction of property. It occurred to Lena that she didn’t think there was an issue with it. She was child-like in that way, driven by her own desires with no thought for anything else. Almost innocent and naive, while also having a body capable of destroying the entire planet.

“When I have a perfectly serviceable door, several, in fact,” Lena pointed out as she made her way down the stairs and ignored the cameras on her.

“You’ll use them next time, WorldKiller,” she instructed, eyes flinty. “It is considered good manners.”

She cast a glance around the room, feeling her heart hammering in her chest as a rumble came from Reign’s chest. She idly wondered just how far she could push it. If Reign believed she were superior then it would take only a little manipulation for the WorldKiller to behave in a manner that pleased Lena and would also ensure the relative safety of the people around her, in theory. She couldn’t influence Reign’s behaviour away from her, but Lena could be sure that she would not stand for any rudeness from the alien, even if she had to teach her proper etiquette herself.

“You will also wait your turn,” she said, turning back to the Kryptonian. “I was in the middle of something.”

“I require your attention, human,” Reign rumbled dangerously, head suddenly snapping away and focusing on the second alien to come through the roof.

“I do have a door,” Lena commented dryly as Supergirl descended, cameras following her down.

“Reign!” She called out and the WorldKiller snarled.

“Be gone, pest,” her words echoed in the room powerfully, even though her voice was lowered. “Your presence here is unwanted. Or shall I beat you into the Earth you love so much?”

Supergirl had taken up a position slightly in front of Lena, clearly protective and Lena took a careful breath.

“Go and fight elsewhere,” Lena said, waving her hand around her, probably, now unsound conference centre. “Where the only thing you can damage is yourselves.”

Supergirl edged to the side, trying to stay between Lena and Reign.

“What do you want with Lena?” Her voice was sharp, and Lena eyed the tight lines of her shoulders and the rigidity to her back with curiosity. Was Supergirl concerned for her wellbeing? She shook the thought off. She was just protecting people as she did.

“None of your concern, bug,” Reign turned her attention back to Lena.

“Raozhium. I am waiting.”

Lena felt her ire rise as Supergirl stiffened.

“Raozhium?” She asked, glancing at Lena and Lena shrugged. She was hardly going to argue with the woman that had beaten Supergirl into the ground more than once. Not if she wanted to live, and she sort of did.

“I’m busy,” she said pointedly to Reign, testing the waters with the alien. “You can either wait or make an appointment with my secretary.”

Red flared in the WorldKiller eyes. “I will not wait,” she hissed and Lena tilted her head.

“And I didn’t intend for my press conference to be interrupted and have my roof destroyed. Yet here we are.”

“Lena,” Supergirl hissed in warning as Reign took a step towards them and her heart hammered but she lifted her chin.

“Human, you try my patience,” Reign warned, and Lena recalled a comment that the WorldKiller had made the night before. How Lena’s defiance was refreshing. It stood to reason then, that Reign was letting, or would let, Lena get away with more than a usual person would.

“And your lack of etiquette is trying mine, WorldKiller.” Her pulse was steady in her ears and she felt warm all over.

“This… etiquette you speak of… what is it?” Reign demanded after a long moment of silence.

Supergirl’s expression was comical and Lena was certain that her face would be memeified and blasted all over the internet, probably parallel with the blue genie from that movie Ruby had once made her watch. It was her only Disney movie, and then she had been working on her own thesis while she and Ruby had watched it, Ruby engrossed in it and Lena in her paper.

“Etiquette is..” Lena paused for a moment while she thought on how to properly articulate what manners were. “Etiquette, or manners, are a set of rules that society has deemed appropriate for various avenues of interaction within society, class, and group. Most of them overlap and are so heavily ingrained into society that to not use them is considered… crass and uncouth. Though, of course, various cultures have their own standards for them.”

“Like a handshake,” Reign said, and Lena nodded slowly. Reign seemed to know what the words meant, as she had thought earlier, she just didn’t have the memory or experience to go off.

“Exactly.”

“These manners…. They are a sign of the higher class? Of the superior?” Reign asked, gaze intent on Lena. Supergirl was still looking between them in absolute bemusement but Lena ignored her for the moment. If the two didn’t fight then she could protect the fragile humans who were watching the interaction with wide eyes, plus it would lessen her maintenance bill.

“Yes and no,” Lena said slowly, wondering just how she was going to explain this to her PR team later. Teaching an alien about human etiquette was not something she was qualified for.

“I like to think that all humans, and even aliens, properly raised are capable of being polite, courteous, and civil. Of course the…elite.. of society often deem crudity beneath them and will go out of their way to prove their own superiority by following their own often absurd rules. It has been something humanity has done since before history has made note of it.” Lena didn’t want to get into the intricacy of dining and royalty and class and the various types of protocol, but felt it needed to be touched upon. Every culture and society was the way it was because of what had been. To ignore that history was to ignore what was, and even what could be.

“What was it like on Krypton?”

“You are implying that my entrance through the roof is a sign of bad breeding, human,” Reign said, ignoring her question, and Lena winced. That wasn’t what she had meant but it was the general idea. “I am a WorldKiller, not a human. I am superior,” Reign said, and her chin lifted.

Lena didn’t dignify that with a response as it seemed like Reign were thinking something through, and Lena was quietly hoping Reign was falling into her little trap. If Reign believed a high standard of etiquette indicated superiority then the likelihood of her conforming to it was high, and Lena would be able to back the theory up with evidence if required, even if it did make her feel like a snob. But you didn’t have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to understand that respect was important in society. Did Krypton not have standards? What of their guilds? Surely the Houses were comparable to the House of Lord’s of aristocracy, or even old money and blood?

“This secretary. Where is it?” Reign asked and turned to look at the cowering humans and Supergirl tensed and her body coiled ready for action.

“She,” Lena began after a long look over at Jess, “is over there and will not be harmed,” Lena let her voice harden in warning. “She is mine.”

The WorldKiller turned to look at her and Reign’s head tilted. “You are amusing human. Your human shall not be harmed,” Reign said and was then gone. So was Supergirl, and the two appeared in front of Jess, whose professionalism broke for just a moment at the WorldKiller in front of her, but held up under the scrutiny. Lena wasn’t sure what was discussed, only knew that Reign departed shortly after, and Jess strode over to meet Lena, fingers white and knuckles popping around the edge of her tablet.

“Miss Luthor,” she swallowed, face ashen and hands shaken. “Your schedule is clear from two pm onwards. Do you need anything else from me?”

Lena quickly gives her a once over, desperate to make sure that Reign had kept her word and was relieved to find that she had. Jess was unharmed, not that she thought Supergirl would allow it without interfering. “No, thank you, Jess. Take the rest of the day. Paid.”

Her loyal secretary shook her head and clutched her tablet tighter. “Thank you but no thank you.”

Lena eyed her a moment and gave her a slight nod.

“Have I received reports from RnD?” She enquired as she strode down the aisle, ignoring the reporters hurling questions at her and Supergirl met her at the door. Jess let out a relieved sigh as she started to list off the remainder of Lena’s day.

“Miss Luthor!”

“Not here, Supergirl,” Lena said quietly before turning to face the reporters behind her. She liked to think of them as a ravenous pack of hyenas, nothing regal or noble about them, they were scavengers. Opportunists. Necessary to the food chain but not liked by many.

“I apologise for the unexpected interruption today. Any further questions regarding Saturday’s events can be directed to my head of PR, Jakob. That will be all,” she finished with a regal dip to her head, and exited the room.

“Jess, clear the area and send security inside. I want a maintenance report on my desk in-“ she glanced at her watch,- “two hours.”

“Yes, Miss Luthor,” Jess said and there was a distinct sound of tapping. “Anything else?”

“Please go and get me something deep fried and covered in chocolate.” Usually Lena wouldn’t risk the calories, but she was on an adrenaline high and craved the carbs.

“Miss Luthor,” Jess smiled and ducked her head, striding off into the bowels of the building with her phone rising to her ear.

“Miss Luthor,” Supergirl began again as security steeped in to halt the reporters flowing towards them and Lena cast her eye over them, looking for Kara.

“Tyler,” she called and a big, buff guy walked over to her.

“Miss Luthor?”

“Keep an eye out for Kara Danvers,” she said, glancing back at the group of reporters being herded from the building. “Make sure she is okay and if she wants to see me let her up.”

“Of course, Miss Luthor,” he said with a professional nod to both she and Supergirl.

“Reign came to visit me last night,” Lena told Supergirl in a hushed voice, knowing the Kryptonian would be able to hear her.

“What?! Are you alright?!”

Lena shot her a disproving look when all eyes darted over to them and she lifted an unimpressed brow as she jabbed the button for the elevator.

“I’m fine,” she said shortly and stepped into the elevator. Supergirl hurried in after her.

“And you are well after your fight Saturday?” She asked, wondering how badly beaten the hero had been. It didn’t seem like she had solar flared because she had been seen flying around on Sunday and on Monday had flown a hit cyclist to hospital.

Supergirl nodded, looking distant a moment before her eyes locked back on to Lena. “Yes, but you! You talked to Reign! What was that?!”

“I think I impressed her on Saturday,” Lena offered wryly as they ascended towards Lena’s office. “She’s decided I’m going to teach her about humans,” Lena explained as she stepped out onto her floor, nodding cordially at the two security guards stationed at the door.

They blinked at her companion but otherwise remained composed as Lena walked towards her corridor. It required a biometric scan, an upgrade after one to many assassins getting to her. It was bothersome but her increased security would keep most threats out, unless they used her own personnel against her, and Lena had made it clear that if someone used one of her employees to get to her, they were to allow it. She would not risk her people when someone was after her.

“Teach her about humans?” Supergirl appeared completely bemused. “What? Why?”

Lena shrugged as they passed down another corridor and she opened the door to see Jess’ empty desk and walked towards her office. “To rule us better?” She questioned. “I was hardly in a position to refuse,” Lena said and opened her door, sensing Supergirl’s quiet disapproval.

“She was able to beat you into a coma,” Lena needlessly offered as she placed her purse on the stand and clicked over to her desk. “So if you could find a way to defeat her before I’m forced to spend a ridiculous amount of time with a hostile alien WorldKiller I’d be _ever_ so grateful.”

She took a seat and glanced up at Supergirl, who looked uncomfortable in the middle of her office. “If that’s all?”

The Kryptonian blinked. “Y-es,” she said and gave a little, hesitant nod. “I um, thank you for what you did on Saturday. For saving my life. Al-gent Danvers said that if you hadn’t Reign would have killed me. “

“Good,” Lena dismissed her ignoring the latter of her sentence. She hadn’t risked her life for Supergirl, no matter what some of the media were saying, she had done it because she could do something, and had to try. “ I didn’t exactly do it for you, but, you’re welcome. If that is everything I have a lot of work to do before two.”

“R-ight,” Supergirl hesitated, and the edges of her fingers toyed with the edge of her skirt, and then strode over to her balcony doors and Lena let a smile cross her face as Supergirl said, “mind if I use this exit?”

It reminded her of a previous conversation the two had, had and she almost rolled her eyes.

“Goodbye, Supergirl,” she said, and she was becoming fond of the cities hero.

“Stay safe, Miss Luthor,” Supergirl said and then she was gone, a blur of blue and red streaking across the sky.

~*~

Reign came to her, just as she said she would, at two pm on the dot. A shadow descended over the top of her desk and Lena felt her heart summersault at the arrival of the Kryptonian.

“Reign,” Lena said, turning to face the WorldKiller as she lowered onto her balcony after darting a beseeching glance at Kara.

Kara had come to her soon after Supergirl had left, frantically bursting through the door, and startling Lena as she rushed towards her.

“Lena!” She’d cried, and Lena had stood and stepped to the side in time to be caught up in Kara’s embrace as the reporter moved at an alarming speed to hug her.

“Oh. I’m so glad you’re okay! I was so worried!” Kara’s embrace was tight, almost painfully so, but Lena sunk into it with a happy sigh and hugged Kara back as hard as she could.

She’d been so worried for her as well, and not just for today, but for Saturday. After her…discussion… with Reign, Lena had passed out and been taken to hospital, and as per procedure, no one had been allowed to see her, only her assistant and the authorities. Kara had been kept away, and then she had come down with an apparently magnificent case of food poisoning and had been bed-ridden in the days after and hadn’t wanted to see anyone. She’d made sure to text though, a string of emoji’s and cat videos and a boat-load of promises about scolding her and then hugging her and then telling her off for endangering herself. It was actually very sweet, and Lena was looking forward to the ‘hug you and never let you go’ part but not the painful puppy eyes that were sure to be blinking at her.

She was correct in that regard. Kara had held her for a long time, squeezing her so tight that she was certain her bones had popped, but Lena had hugged her back just as hard. She’d let a few tears fall silently, acknowledging just how close she had come to death, perhaps the closest she had ever been, and the closest she had been in a while. Kara had just murmured comforts and tried to pull her closer as Lena nuzzled into her. Kara was warm and soft, but Lena wasn’t blind to the muscle under the cardigans and wondered when Kara fit working out into a reporter’s busy schedule. She wasn’t about to complain though. Kara made her feel safe. It was just her presence. Her aura. Just…Kara. Somehow Kara made her feel as though everything was going to be okay.

She’d even brought take-out, and Lena was willing to allow it, even though it wasn’t kale. Instead it was a salad with the most delicious cream chicken she’d ever had and couldn’t hide her groan of appreciation. Kara had chosen that moment to take a far too large mouthful and had choked on it, much to Lena’s amusement.

They’d sat together then, close on the couch, almost touching, while they had eaten. Kara had told her she was an idiot, brave, stupid, kind, fragile, a complete wally, all between bites. (And who used wally in real conversation nowadays?) Lena had just listened to her friend, let her voice wash over her.

Kara had gone quiet when she had finished and had looked at her until Lena had wanted to look away, until she was held by Kara’s eyes as though they were the only thing she could and would ever see.

“S-Supergirl told me what you said,” she said quietly, voice catching. “She told me you saved her.”

“I didn’t-“

“No,” Kara interrupted. “You did,” she said and she was smiling softly at her. “You saved her life, even if you hadn’t intended to when you spoke to Reign. You saved her.”

Lena let out a sigh, still holding Kara’s eyes and gave a little nod. “I-“ she hesitated and gave a little shrug, finally freeing herself from the pull of Kara’s eyes. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” she said and eyed the rubbish from their take-out. She wet her lips. The chicken still lingered on her tongue and she debated asking Jess for the calorie count or not and decided it probably wasn’t worth it.

“I just…acted.” Lena faltered when Kara’s hand rested on her own and gave it a little squeeze. “There was this little kid asking their mum if Supergirl was going to die and I-I just acted.”

It had made some sort of sense, Lena explained to Kara, trying not to freak out that they were sort of holding hands. Reign only went after the sinners, the ones who had done bad, and while it addressed the world in absolutes, in black and white, it stood to reason that the WorldKiller stood by some sort of code. She proclaimed she was here to help, and indeed, all she had done was hunt down criminals and bring them to justice, a different definition of justice, but to justice all the same. Lena had thought, in that moment as she ran across the concrete, that she could reason with the Kryptonian. In a way she had, but now she was paying the consequences of it. Still, if it kept Supergirl around trying to figure out a way to defeat Reign then Lena was all for it.

Kara had just taken her hand in both of hers and told her that she had been reckless and stupid but brave and selfless and so typically Lena.

It was almost nice to be scolded in such a way, a caring and concerned for her safety sort of way, rather than a ‘you’ve failed me’ way that she was used to.

Afterwards Kara, gentle and sweet Kara, had told her in no uncertain terms that unless she wanted her to call her sister and have Lena forcibly taken into protective custody, then Kara was going to stay and make sure Reign didn’t hurt Lena. She had almost bristled at the perceived threat and Lena’s heart had melted while she had been absolutely terrified for Kara’s safety.

When Reign came back, and she had said she would, then Lena didn’t want Kara anywhere near her, or near Reign. While there may have been some steel under the pastel, Kara wouldn’t be able to protect anyone from Reign.

Still. Kara had insisted, and Lena had caved on the condition that Kara leave when Lena asked it of her. Kara hadn’t been thrilled and Lena wondered if Supergirl would be on speed-dial just waiting, and if the organisation that worked with her were planning on trying to trap Reign if she did show up, but Kara had reluctantly agreed.

She would stay until Lena demanded she leave and then she would. Lena had been privately relived at the thought. She didn’t know what she would do if Kara was hurt because of her.

After their impromptu brunch Lena had returned to work and Kara had done the same, determined to not leave Lena alone until she was certain she was okay. Kara had stayed with her the entire time, only popping out to make a quick call before returning.  Lena appreciated the thought but having Kara in her office was distracting and she became increasingly nervous the closer to two pm the afternoon wore on. For good reason. Reign showed up on time. More punctual than many of her bandmembers or employees, so kudos to her for that.

Kara leapt to her feet, clutching her reporter pad in front of her as though it could protect her and scuttled forward to stand next to Lena, ignoring Lena’s pointed look.

“Human,” Reign came in through the balcony, opening the door, which was surprising considering Lena had mentally added the cost of her balcony window to todays maintenance budget.

Reign barely glanced at Kara and her friend bristled and Lena placed a hand on her arm to halt her.

“I have come, as I said.”

“I see that,” Lena smoothed down the front of her skirt and stood to meet the Kryptonian.

She was as imposing as Lena remembered. All in black and dark and terrifying.

“Where do we begin?”

“Introductions,” Lena said and glanced at Kara, who’s face had gone oddly blank while staring at Reign and it was an odd look for the normally bubbly reporter. But then again Lena realised, Kara and Supergirl were friends, or at least acquaintances,  and Reign had beaten Supergirl into the dirt more than once.

“Reign, Kara. Kara, Reign,” she said flicking her head between the two of them.

 Reign’s dark eyes were emotionless for a long moment and then flickered to Kara, who tensed under the examination.

The WorldKiller returned her attention back to Lena.

“There are humans approaching,” she informed her calmly and she stepped further into the room, eyes glowing red. “Did you try to trap me?”

Lena blinked in confusion and then suddenly she understood. Supergirl had been there when Reign had obviously booked Lena for well, for however long she had booked her, and Lena should probably address that at some stage as well, and had told the organisation that Reign would be here to see Lena.

She let out an audible sigh. The risk to her employees and the structure of her building, and the people and infrastructure around them, was obviously not something the government organisation had thought of if they were indeed her, in her building. She shrugged of the ire that caused. She hadn’t been informed, and that was irksome, but she would deal with that later.

“No,” Lena said and crossed her arms, eyes narrowing as Reign turned her attention form through Lena’s walls and back to her. “I didn’t.”

“I don’t believe you,” Reign said and Kara was standing firm between the two of them, tense and every lithe line of her ready for action. Though what the sweet reporter could do to a WorldKiller Lena didn’t know.

She gripped her arm firmly, ignoring for the moment just how firm the muscle was underneath, and tried to guide her away, behind her so that she wasn’t facing Reign. Kara didn’t budge and Lena had to exert a considerable amount of strength before realising that Kara wasn’t about to move.

“I didn’t set a trap for you, Reign,” Lena repeated and turned back to the WorldKiller. “And I had nothing to do with whatever is going on out there.”

The dark head tilted to the side in a slow movement that made Lena swallow.

“I’d rather you don’t fight,” she said and lifted her hands in a peaceful gesture, “but if you absolutely must, please don’t get anyone hurt.”

“You humans are all the same,” Reign intoned, and her voice was clear and cold.

Lena straightened. “No,” she said sharply and took a partial step towards the alien, and Kara moved with her, trying to shield her body with her own, which was sweet but currently unwanted. “We aren’t,” her voice was firm.

“None of us are like another. No culture or song or language. No people or person. We are all singular. Unique.”

Reign’s head straightened and she looked past her and Kara and through her walls. “I will be back, human.”

And she was gone again, using the balcony door which was another surprise, and Lena sagged against the desk in relief. As confident as she was in verbally engaging with Reign, so long as no one was in danger, she didn’t like to anger the alien. She never knew when she was getting close to pushing her over the edge.

Letting out a gush of air Lena ran her fingers through her hair and looked at Kara. Kara was frowning after Reign with her entire body tense, coiled like a spring and Lena laid her hand on her forearm.

“Kara?” She asked and the reporter blinked and seemed to come back to herself.

“Yeah, I’m um,” Kara blinked a little and shook herself and she relaxed.

“Phew,” she said and adjusted her glasses and smiled nervously at Lena. “That was um, yeah.”

Lena, relieved that Kara was alright, let out a shaky laugh. “Yeah.” She smiled at Kara a moment before pushing off the desk. “If you would excuse me, Kara,” she said as she mentally adorned her Luthor mantel. “I have some business to attend to.”

“Oh, um okay. Sure. I need to go and see Snapper anyway,” Kara said and she quickly gathered her things and Lena held the door for her on the way out.

“I don’t mean to kick you out,” Lena explained, catching Jess’ eye and calling out to her. “Please get me Mathias, Jess.”

Jess’ eyes widened but she nodded and was quickly on her phone while Kara glanced between the two of them in concern.

“Is everything okay?” There was a worried crease to her brow and Lena smiled at her unable to hide her fondness.

“Its fine,” she assured. “Just work.”

“Okay.”

She could tell by the way Kara drew out her _okay_ that she didn’t quite believe her but Kara gave a little nod, toyed with the strap on her messenger bag, and gave her a bright smile.

“Well, I’ll um, I’ll see you soon?”

Lena nodded. She didn’t think she could stay away from Kara for very long anyway. “Of course, Kara.”

“Okay, bye,” Kara waved farewell and after she had gone far enough Lena turned to Jess.

“There are unauthorised personnel in this building,” Lena told her quietly and Jess stiffened and reached under her desk but Lena shook her head. Jess didn’t need to press the emergency alarm.

“No, not a threat,” she said, and the elevator opened and her head lawyer marched out. He was a balding man, but had a powerful presence and he was one of her fathers old crowd, a tough but fair black man who had seen everything.

“Miss Luthor,” his voice was a rumble, contained but strong and Lena smiled up at him.

“Mathias, thank you for coming so promptly.”

He inclined his head. “What can I help you with?”

“A moment, Mathias,” Lena requested and walked around to Jess’ computer and brought up the security feeds. It took her a moment, but she soon found a discrepancy and radioed for her security to meet her there.

As she strode from her floor with Mathias next to her she explained what was happening, or what had happened in the past few days, hoping to get the old lawyer on her side. He already knew much of everything that had happened, as his team worked with her PR team, but she wanted to explain a little more about her rationale.

Lena quickly explained everything that was going on with her and Reign, making sure to emphasise that she was agreeing to work with Reign, or teach her as she seemed to think, because she was partially afraid for her life, and for the lives of the people around her. She also quietly hoped that if she managed to delay Reign or learn more about her, she could give Supergirl the tools to help defeat her. She told him this as they took another elevator to another floor and she also added the presence of unwelcome people in her building, likely the ones working with Supergirl.

Reign had been right, of course. The federal agency was already in the process of packing up and leaving with their equipment when Lena and her lawyer emerged into the floor as her security team erupted from the stairwell, guns drawn and ready for a fight.

To the credit of the agents in black they responded admirably, dropping their equipment and bringing their own firearms up in response.

There were shouts and demands and she was pleased that both teams were highly trained so as not to be trigger happy.

The shouts were broken by Mathias’ whistle and Lena was reminded of how he used to train sheep-dogs, or maybe he still did? She’d have to enquire after them.

“Do you have a warrant, Agents?” Mathias asked silkily and Lena fought the urge to bite her lip in amusement.

“No?” He enquired as sweet as sugar and Lena let her gaze travel across the gathered agents.

“Agent Danvers?” She tilted her head and saw Alex wince.

“Guns down everyone,” Alex ordered and the agents obeyed immediately, returning to their duties while Lena’s own guards bristled in formation.

“Thank you, Tyler,” Lena said and with a nod dismissed her head of security. He gave her a sharp nod and ordered her security to return to their posts.

“What are you doing here, Agent Danvers? And how,” she emphasised, mentally planning an entire re-write of her security measures, “did you get in here? I have to admit,” she gave a little impressed nod. “I am impressed but I would very much like to know the breach in my security. Shall we talk in my office?”

Alex turned from her and spoke into her shoulder but Lena couldn’t hear the words. After a few long moments Alex turned back to her and nodded.

“I’ve been given clearance to debrief you.”

“Excellent,” Mathias said with a pleasant smile. “You can explain why you are trespassing and why we shouldn’t press charges.”

Lena lifted a brow and turned and clicked her way back to the elevator, confident Alex and Mathias would follow her. Her day hadn’t even ended yet and she just wanted to crawl into bed with a bottle of wine and a good book. Sadly the world, or rather WorldKiller, had other plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This no pressure thing is actually sort of fun. Nothing has to work or fit together, it just happens and is accepted as such. I kinda like it :D  
> Also, guess who is probably in New Zealand at this very moment? (or on her way) Yes, that is right. Katie McGrath. I'm seeing her on Saturday, and then on Sunday so guess who will probably have to update from the grave? Moi :D (#^_^#) I'm gonna die, but I'm gonna be happy about it. So, so happy :D :D I'll take pics/video :D And if anyone thinks of any good questions (not ship related, dont want to be one of those fans) hit me up. I may get to ask them :D


	4. Chapter 4

“Three times in one day. I must be lucky,” Lena dryly raised her glass of wine at the WorldKiller that came in through her balcony, ignoring the crack of the door as the lock was broken.

“You could have knocked,” she added, eyes narrowing on the door handle the WorldKiller dropped on the carpet as she entered. A gust of wind as she closed the door behind her made her cape billow out majestically.

“It was locked,” Reign replied as she padded across the carpet, slinking forward like some sort of dark shadow.

“That’s what tends to happen when people want to keep other people out,” Lena brought the glass to her lips.

“You amuse me, human,” Reign commented as she took in Lena’s kitchen and Lena glanced around it before shrugging. It was late, almost late enough to be considered early, but her kitchen was clean and tidy and all that remained of her dinner was her half empty bottle of wine and the glass she was enjoying.

“Why?” Lena enquired and tucked her legs under her. “Because you could kill me and I don’t-“

“You don’t show me your fear, though I know you have it, human,” Reign finished for her and Lena ducked her head in acknowledgement. She’d already had this debate with Kara, herself, Mathias, and even Alex Danvers. If Reign wanted her dead there was nothing she could do about it. Her brief glance over her brothers notes had been… insufficient in dealing with superior Kryptonian’s, though Lena suspected Kryptonite would work to some degree. It was something she was reluctant to test, in case it didn’t work. She knew Reign wouldn’t take it well if Lena were unsuccessful, and well, Lena didn’t want to die _that_ much.

Lifting her glass again in a silent salute she took another sip before resting her glass on the coffetable.

“I have some questions,” Lena said and turned slightly for her tablet and when she turned back Reign was much closer to her than expected.

“I ask the questions,” Reign corrected and Lena lifted a brow.

“In teaching you learn,” she said and tapped a few buttons on her device. Reign didn’t have a response for that.

“Now,” she said and glanced at the WorldKiller from beneath her lashes. “How do you,” she waved her hand over the WorldKiller’s body, “work?”

Reign tensed. “Why do you want to know, human?”

“Because,” Lena said patiently. “I can’t show you everything humanity has to offer if I don’t know how you are going to process it. What do you already know? Understand? What have you seen? What have you experienced? How did you come to be here?”

“Those are thorough questions. Invasive.”

“I’m a scientist,” Lena replied and drummed her fingers on her knee. “I seek knowledge and truth. Isn’t that what you are after? Knowledge?”

“Knowledge is power,” Reign blinked and she was over by the window, gazing out into the night.

Lena ducked her head. “Mh, no. Power is power,” she pointed at the WorldKiller at her window. “Case in point. Knowledge and the experience on how to use it, gives you power, even if it is only over yourself.”

Reign spun back to face her, head tilting. “Knowledge gives you power to defeat your enemies,” she offered and Lena nodded slowly.

“Yes.  I suppose it does. Why?”

A cruel lift to her lips changed the terrain of Reign’s face. “How do I know you are not plotting against me, human?”

“So you have a weakness?” Lena asked innocently. “Wouldn’t be Kryptonite, would it? Because that would be helpful.”

Reign blinked and withdrew slightly.

“Kryptonite… that is the green element the humans and the Daughter of El tried to restrain me with.”

Lena didn’t say anything, wondering if Reign would offer more information, and quietly tucking that knowledge away. So, the DEO, and she knew about them officially now, had Kryptonite. Interesting, considering their resident team mascot in blue and red.

“I have no weakness,” Reign repeated straightened proudly. “I am a WorldKiller!”

“And what,” Lena asked curiously, heart hammering, “does that mean?”

“I am here to cleanse this world of sin and sinners. It is my purpose,” Reign said, almost arrogantly.

“Of all sin? Which ones in particular?” Lena enquired, feeling her insides twist with unease.

“Which ones?” Reign’s head turned and she blinked. “All of them….. how many sins do you humans have?” She demanded, eyes narrowed and Lena swallowed.

Oh, boy.

“That depends,” Lena said carefully thinking her words through. “Are all sins to be judged equal?”

“All sinners must be cleansed,” Reign repeated.

“I caught that,” Lena said, “but by your definition then all of us will be, as you put it, cleansed.”

The solid line of the WorldKiller’s shoulders lowered a moment. “What are you speaking of? Are all humans sinful?”

“Yes, to a degree.” Lena said honestly.

“Even you?” Reign demanded tensing and Lena’s heart tripped.

“Yes,” she chose to answer honestly, hesitantly. “I have. Are you going to kill me like you have killed so many others?”

Reign hesitated and her head shifted to the side, reminding Lena of some sort of snake, where as Supergirl’s confusion was always cute. This was not.

“I have looked you up, Lena of the Luthor’s, you are not a sinner.” Lena let out a relieved sound of relief and reached for her glass. She deserved the rest of it. Swallowing the lot she set the glass back down on the table.

“By whose definition?” Lena asked, genuinely curious and not asking for a revision on her current not-guilty judgement.

“Sin is sin,” Reign said clearly and Lena shook her head.

“Not necessarily. Its far more complex than that.”

“Explain,” the WorldKiller demanded after a long moment of silence where Lena counted her heartbeats, wondering if they were to be her own even though Reign had said she wouldn’t hurt her.

“Have a seat,” Lena suggested, gesturing to the chair and Reign looked at it a long while.

“My research on human etiquette deems I sit,” Reign said and looked back at Lena.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Lena correctly hurriedly.

Reign sat.

Right.

“Explain, human. How is a sin not a sin? How is a sin not punishable?”

Lena took a deep breath and quietly set her tablet down. She had taken the liberty of installing recording software earlier and had turned it on the moment she started to talk with the WorldKiller.

“Before I do, can you answer a few questions for me? I will answer all of yours honestly and to the best of my ability, but there are some things I would like to know.”

Lena kept quiet while Reign stared at her, dark eyes peering so intently into her very soul and Lena felt as though everything were being weighed and measured. She wasn’t sure what conclusion Reign found, when she finally relaxed into the chair, or relaxed for a WorldKiller, but it appeared she had found it.

“Ask.”

“How were you made? How did you come to be here? On earth? Why take so long to let us know you are here?”

Lena had carefully picked her questions, trying not to pry too deeply figuring it would go down badly, but needing to get some sort of background for the WorldKiller.

“My makers made me before the death of Krypton. I was sent here when Krypton exploded.”

“Like Supergirl,” Lena pointed out and the WorldKiller’s eyes narrowed.

“I am nothing like that pathetic daughter of the House of El. I am the pinnacle of science, of Kryptonian ingenuity. She is nothing but a peasant.”

Okay, so Reign wasn’t fond of the other Kryptonian’s. Was it because she thought they were less than she was? It made sense, in a morbid way. Reign was the supreme being on earth, an apex predator if there ever were one.

“Why now?” Lena enquired, genuinely wanting to know why Reign had been quiet the entirety of her time on earth. What had triggered her action?

“To protect me as I grew I was given a human shell, a façade. The illusion has shattered and I have awoken. Tell me about sin, human.”

Lena blinked back her surprise at Reign’s words. Did that mean she hadn’t grown up aware of what she was and what she was meant to do? What of the person she had been? Is that why she wore a mask? Apart from the whole…. Look she had going on. Was it to protect her human identity? But if the WorldKiller herself didn’t care for her identity then she wouldn’t care for the humans in her life, so they wouldn’t be able to be used for…negotiation. Was Reign and her human two separate beings? Could the other be reached and somehow rescued? Or was it more like a personality disorder? Mind reeling with questions, but seeing the increasing agitation of the WorldKiller before her, Lena decided to draw her attention away from Lena’s questions.

“We have a lot of sins,” Lena said slowly, thinking her words through carefully. The last thing she needed was Reign deciding humanity was a sin and killing them all. It wouldn’t be difficult.

“I guess it depends on your definition of sin. For some, there are seven crucial ones, sins that tempt us every day. For others…  I guess it depends on your own morals, beliefs, and upbringing.”

Flicking her eyes back to the WorldKiller she wondered what up-brining the human in her had.

“How were you raised?”

“I was made on Krypton.”

Lena sighed slightly. “Yes, but how were you raised when you came to earth? What upbringing did you have? If you were…inside…a human shell, were you not strong enough to come out? Did you not learn anything about us?”

Reign tilted her head, voice emerging low and cold. “My Makers designed me so that the human mask would blend in until I awakened at full strength. I was…not aware of anything until my awakening to avoid detection.”

So the WorldKiller had been raised as a human while her consciousness had been…sleeping. Something must have triggered her awakening but Lena sensed she wouldn’t be getting any more answers from her today. She made a mental note to ask her about her makers.

“Sin,” Reign repeated and Lena, resigned to the discussion she was about to have, began.

“Different people and cultures have different ideas on what a sin is,” Lena said and shifted on her seat. “The concept has existed before recollected history, before written word. It changes from person to person, depending on how they were raised and what they believe in.”

Seeing she had Reign’s full attention Lena continued, pulling thoughts from the top of her head and forcing them into sentences. “Sin is…. A sin is an action, willing or unwilling, known or unknown, that purposely brings harm to another person, being, or organisation. Sort of.”

Lena wasn’t the most moral of people, she hadn’t been raised with typical right and wrong. She was a Luthor, and perhaps her view of the world was jaded, but she believed punishment to fit the crime, even if it went against many peoples views. Take Edge for example. She’d gone to his office to shoot him. She didn’t know if she could have, but now, recalling how the anger had almost consumed her, rampant and scathing, she thought she might have, and was thankful she had been stopped. Edge deserved whatever he got, but she would make sure there was a trial and evidence. She wasn’t a vigilante, in fact she privately loathed the idea. It stemmed from her time after Lex’s arrest, his final one, where people, random citizens who she had never met or thought of, had turned on her. She had barely escaped some encounters with her life. It left a sour taste in her mouth.

“To put it simply, a sin is to break a law. But you already knew that,” Lena said and wondered if it would be rude of her to go and fill her wine-glass.

“But you’re viewing it in complete black and white,” Lena leant against her couch and eyed the WorldKiller.

“A sin is a sin,” Reign informed her, her cold and clear voice patronising.

“Yes,” Lena nodded slowly. “But they aren’t all equal. They can’t be.”

Reign’s dark eyes felt as though they were pinning her in place. “They must be punished.”

“Yes,” Lena replied simply. “And we do,” she emphasised. “We are.”

“No, you aren’t,” Reign countered.

“Yes, we are,” Lena said and let out a sigh. “The police and justice systems. Due process. We might not get it right, and the entire system does need an overhaul,” Lena admitted. “But we try. You said, when you came to CATCO with that thief, that it is apathy that drives us to turn away.”

“I remember,” Reign said, and the corner of her mouth lifted in an almost plastic smile. “You challenged me.”

“Again,” the WorldKiller added with an almost amused smile.

“I told you it wasn’t apathy, that it was fear,” Lena reminded her and the WorldKiller nodded.

“We fight that fear,” Lena curled her feet beneath her. “With other things. Hope and faith and friendship and family. Love.”

Reign was quiet for a long while.

“Our justice system may not always work, but we try,” Lena continued after a pause. “We gather evidence and catch the suspects. They go through trials where they are offered the chance to defend themselves and a panel of citizens criticise the evidence and then judge if the accused is innocent or not. We have a saying,” Lena said with a dry smile, recalling just how unfair the phrase could often be, “here on earth. Innocent until proven guilty. It means that we prescribe the accused to be innocent until proven, beyond reasonable doubt, guilty.”

Lena shrugged. “You’ve met some of our protectors of the peace.”

“Supergirl,” Reign rumbled and Lena hesitated.

“I think technically,” she offered slowly, “she’s classed as a vigilante.” Lena gave it a moments thought. Had Supergirl, and Superman for that matter, been deputised by the government or even the mayor of their cities? The Bat-pack in Gotham were classed as vigilante’s while doing a similar thing, but perhaps it was because of their aggression with pursuing justice? It was something for her to consider later on.

“I was referring to,” Lena said, quickly hurrying on in case Reign focused on Supergirl a little too much, “our local police force.”

Reign’s scoff was audible. “The humans are weak.”

Lena let out a soft, amused laugh.

“Why do you laugh?”

Lena shook her head softly. “You don’t understand us at all, WorldKiller.”

“Are you not weak?”

“Compared to you?” Lena asked, raising a brow. “Yes, in some ways. But in others you are still so far behind.”

Reign’s surprise was obvious and her eyes flared red but she didn’t move.

“We humans have a system for catching and punishing those who sin, and it is _not_ killing them,” Lena said softly, lowering her voice to try and get her to understand.

“Some deserve it. It is my purpose,” Reign declared and Lena let out a little sigh. On that she couldn’t disagree. Some people didn’t deserve to live, but she wasn’t sure she could rightly decide that people could die.

“I don’t have a response for that.”

“That is because you agree?” Reign said, and she leant forward, eyes flicking over Lena. “You agree with what I am doing?”

Reign was suddenly on her feet and pacing back and forth in front of the couch.  “Most humans have been arguing for their lives, that they don’t deserve to die, but you, human,” Reign froze and looked at her intently. She felt like she was being taken apart, piece by piece, and examined under a microscope. “You understand what I am trying to achieve.”

Lena couldn’t argue with that. She wanted criminals punished for their crimes, and while Reign had been active the major crimes in the city had dropped substantially and so had the lesser crimes. The criminally inclined citizens were cowering in their holes just waiting for Reign to swoop down on them. She was clear with her code. Criminals were to be punished, by death. It was effective.

It reminded her of her time in college when she had been studying and her room-mate had been watching an anime. Death Note. She couldn’t quite remember the details over her paper on engineering, but she remembered that the main character had gotten a hold of a note book that allowed him to write the name of anyone in the world, picture their face, and they would die. He proclaimed himself justice and sought to cleanse the world. He reminded Lena of Reign.

“Yes,” Lena admitted clearly, heart hammering. She knew better than to be caught in a lie by the WorldKiller, she would be able to hear her heart twitching with the lie and didn’t want to be punished for it. “I think that what you want is admirable,” she said clearly. “But killing people is wrong.”

Reign blinked, shoulders dropping back. “But they are sinners. Sinners need to be cleansed.”

“We punish our sinners differently on earth,” Lena pointed out. “We arrest them, place them in jail, or give them a fine or community service. That is how we punish them. It is how society has decided to punish them.”

“And yet they still commit crimes. Your people still murder and rape and steal. Your punishments are no deterrent. Mine are. I have read the archaic reports that humans sell on the street. My presence here is already bringing about a change. I am justice,” Reign said, head titling to the side as she considered her words. Understanding seemed to dawn on her. “I am justice,” she repeated, voice lifting in an almost childlike wonder.

“Your hero proclaims to be, but I am the only one who has brought the sinners to heel.”

Lena felt ice run fingers town the back of her spine and her body went cold all over.

“Humans need me, I see that now, more than ever. You have shown me, as you had said you would, human. For that you have my respect.” Reign inclined her head once and then she was gone.

And Lena, being the well-raised Luthor that she was, reacted in the way Lillian would have expected her. She quietly composed herself, prepared a mental list of just how much trouble she, and Reign, could get in to, made a mental note to speak to Mathias, and then completed her routine for bed. She absolutely did not finish her bottle of wine and then another. Her ~~hangover~~ headache come morning was the result of too much work, too little sleep, and not enough water. It had nothing to do with her intentions and words being twisted by the most powerful being on the planet and potentially using it to justify her continued crusade against sinners.

Lena believed in punishment, but did not believe that she, or any one person, or even group of similar people, had the right to decide what punishment fit what crime. Society governed itself, the people had the right to decide what was right and what was not, one person could not be judge, jury and executioner. A god-like being Reign may be, but she didn’t understand. The world was not black and white, and most people lived in shades of grey. She only hoped that the people of National City, and the world, had the chance to show Reign that before it was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I met Katie last weekend. She is even lovelier in person. I'm even more in love than I thought I was ;)


	5. Chapter 5

After her conversation with Lena, Reign continued her mission. She took out accused murders and rapists and even caught kidnappers. She even had another showdown with Supergirl, winning again, and it was only a timely intervention from a flying green alien, a _Martian_ of all things, that had spared her. Her latest act in cleansing sin from the world was a group of drug dealers down by the docks. She killed them all and left them strewn across the beach in warning.

The city was divided on her presence, debating her purpose in the media; with police and judges and citizens and criminal psychologists; and in private; between friends and family or at lunch with colleagues. Many of the citizens were agreeing with her mission, claiming that she was only killing those who sinned therefore those who did not sin were not in danger, and Reign had voiced that herself. Why then, voiced many of the citizens, should they try to stop her? She was doing society a favour by doing what the justice system could not. She was ending crime. No one dared to commit a crime while her dark silhouette cast a shadow over the city. Many of the people were feeling safer with her presence, even more so than Supergirl’s. Reign was doing what Supergirl could not. She was dealing out a worthy justice and making sure the city didn’t have to pay for the containment and upkeep of the prisoners who had been sentenced. It was a win-win.

Others though, usually the law and its representatives, warned against such support, claiming that it was not up to one person, a vigilante, to deal out justice. Justice was delt with by the people, a collective, not by a lone criminal. Reign was killing people, bad people by her own code of justice, but still killing them. And as citizens the other side to the debate were concerned about where Reign’s cleanse ended, though perhaps they were afraid she would turn her gaze on them and their loved ones, and that she could not play God.

Lena privately agreed with what she was doing, to a certain extent. There were people who didn’t deserve to live, but she didn’t want judgement being doled out unless it was confirmed that the accused was guilty, being accused didn’t make you guilty. Lena knew that.

Lena had privately voiced her concerns to Mathias, suggesting that Reign was getting her information from the media and that the media was not judge, jury and executioner like they so often thought themselves to be. They twisted facts to suit their narratives and used their power to sway public opinion, for all that many claimed to be the voice of truth. What if they got it wrong, as they so often did? Had they sent, unwittingly, Reign after innocents? She hoped not. Some people would deserve what was coming to them, but she at least wanted Reign to be one-hundred percent certain, and unlike the bat-family in Gotham, who at least appeared to catch their criminals in the act, and gather information on them first, Reign just swept in as though she were Thanatos.

Her justice was swift and certain, but she had drastically lowered crime rates. Something not even Supergirl could attest to, let alone Superman. Sure, their presence lowered minor crime, and why people even considered criminal activity in a city ‘claimed’ by a Super, Lena didn’t know, but the violent crime increased. The calibre of villain rose to meet the challenge issued by the Super. They should just not claim a city, it never worked out well for said city in the long run. Just look at the collateral damage that was related to the Kryptonian’s, it spoke for itself. Lives, infrastructure. It didn’t paint such a pleasant picture of their cities as the heroes would like to believe.

Still, Lena had lived in fear. And it wasn’t any way to live. Existing and living were two very different things, that she had learnt the hard way after Lex’s final arrest. She hadn’t felt safe, truly safe, until she moved to National City. Here, at least, the people had no personal reason to dislike her with such passion. They didn’t throw Molotov cocktails into her buildings, or try and set her apartment on fire, or slash her tires or even shoot at her. Well, not outside of the usual violence that came with being a Luthor. Though recently they had been far more personal, which was actually a nice change. She’d accepted what she had done, or not done, but it wasn’t fair to have people go after her for her brother. But she did understand. Fear led to anger. Anger led to hate. Hate led to violence. People were predictable like that. Still didn’t make it right, and right now National City was living in a hushed fear, waiting on the vengeful god to turn her eyes on them.

The authorities were still trying to catch Reign, and were coming up glaringly short and Lena suspected the military would have been called in if the citizens weren’t too petrified to step out of line and riot and loot and cause general unrest. Reign had that going for her. When people could no longer trust in their protectors, they got violent and people got hurt, with Reign watching everyone was as quiet as a mouse, unless they were stupid or a criminal. It explained her most recent gruesome murders splashed across the front page of every media outlet in the city. Drug dealers. They certainly counted as sinners in Reign’s book, and they payed the price for it.

Lena had a moment of concern, for herself and for her employees, and had, in a company wide memo, suggested that her employees conduct themselves as model citizens, at least until the issue with Reign had passed. She advised they not break the law in any way, or any social norms, just in case. She didn’t know where Reign was going to stop, and it wasn’t as though she were the only one to suggest such things. City Hall had released a statement when Supergirl wasn’t able to defeat Reign, warning the citizens of her intentions. Though, to be fair, life in National City for the layman was currently a breeze. People were polite and courteous. Reign had them to terrified to even look at their neighbour wrong, let alone litter or speed. It was almost refreshing and would have been if they weren’t not learning to be better and weren’t living in fear. As noble as Reign’s intentions were…. Freedom and peace under tyranny were not freedom and peace. But Reign didn’t seem to know the difference.

In fact, some of the people didn’t either. A group of new vigilantes, proclaiming Reign as the ‘new god’ had started spreading the word of justice. Unfortunately, their version of justice was to catch people and beat them to death. Reign had yet to catch the vigilantes, and Lena feared if she did. By her own code, their worship of her was wrong, and so was their nightly justice crusades. She would treat them as she treated the other law breakers, with death. The police had tried to warn them, but some people couldn’t be reasoned with.

Her phone vibrated on her desk and she cast it a glance before retuning to her work. She had a rule- unless her personal cell-phone went of while she was working, and it rang, then she wouldn’t touch it until she had finished her current project. It kept her focused and on track, especially because Kara seemed to be sending her cute animal videos accompanied by emojis and incoherent text. Lena sometimes wondered how Kara had the time to message her so frequently.

It took her another twenty minutes before she was satisfied enough to check her message and when she did, her neutral mood dropped a little. She and Kara had been planning on spending the evening together, there was a new Superhero movie that Kara wanted to see and Lena had agreed, interested in some of the technology surely to be on show, but now Kara had cancelled on her.

‘ _Hey. Sorry, have to cancel tonight. One of Maggie’s co-workers was killed today. Me an Alex are gonna be there for her_.’

Lena remembered the detective that had arrested her, a member of the NCPD in the science division. While Lena had no hard feelings for her arrest, it had been glaringly obvious the Luthor in the city was guilty, as usual, she did feel as though the entire situation could have been handled better. Mathias was roaring to sue the city the moment she gave her approval, but she had stayed his hand. She wasn’t sure suing the city would be a good look for her image. With great reluctance he had filed his report, but told her he was ready to go to war with them for her, all she had to do was say the word. She wasn’t sure how successful their bid would have been, but Mathias had straightened, turning from happy old dog to fierce wolf and assured her it wouldn’t be a problem. She’d take his word for it. Her expertise was in other areas.

While she was indifferent to the woman Alex called ‘girlfriend’ no one deserved to go through the death of someone they cared for, especially on the job. She sent back a quick text reassuring Kara it was fine, to wish Maggie and Alex her best, and to join her tomorrow for lunch if she were free.

Kara’s response was instantaneous.

‘ _Of course! Benni’s?_ ’ She accompanied it with her usual emojis. Lena replied an affirmative and paused in her email to check Kara’s response.

‘ _See you tomorrow!_ ’ With even more emojis but this time there was a yellow face with a heart and Lena stared at it for a long moment. Had Kara meant to send her a kissing heart face? Or had it just gotten mixed up in the usual emojis she sent to her? She eyed it for a long while and decided not to read too much into it. It was probably a mistake, after all. Kara didn’t care for her more than a friend.

 

~*~

….. _and it is with this in mind that I warn my fellow citizens against supporting Reign in any way. She is a murderer. We have a justice system, it may not be perfect or efficient, but it is something that we, as a people, have decided upon. Our laws and processes exist because long ago humans decided that it was not up to one person to be judge, jury, and executioner, and Reign cannot understand that. In taking so called ‘justice’ into her own hands she is circumventing everything we believe in._

_To those who argue that Reign is doing what needs to be done, that our justice system is corrupt, and Reign is impartial, I ask you to remember Nathan Davids, an undercover narcotics officer who was killed Tuesday night while seeking justice the right way; with facts, evidence, and process._

_Love, friendship and compassion fight fear, and those who weaponize it are cowards. We do not deserve to live in fear, National City, not of a murderer, and I have faith that the people who dedicate their lives to true justice, with evidence and trails and processes, will prevail._

**-Kara Danvers, CATCO**

 

Lena slowly turned her attention from the scathing article Kara had written as a wave of fear rolled down her spine. A shudder ran through her body as she sat back in her chair and ran her tongue along her teeth.

Oh, God, what had Kara done?

Shaking her head, she re-read the article, feeling her stomach tighten with unease.

The media outlets in the city had a blanket ban on all criminal reporting, out of a sense of duty or by pressure from the public and authorities, so Reign had been patrolling, looking for criminals. In her show down with Supergirl she had been at the prison and had cleansed almost all of the inmates. Many had only committed minor crimes, like store theft, or drunken brawls, but all had been cast as sinners and killed.

Unfortunately, an undercover narcotics officer of the NCPD, the same one that Alex and Kara had been comforting Maggie about last night, had been killed while taking part in a drug deal down by the docks. The official police statement, released yesterday, had said that Nathan had been with the department since completing the academy thirteen years ago and was in the middle of gathering evidence on gang related drug activity when Reign had killed him. There were many statements from his fellow officers commenting on what a great man he had been and how he would be missed, and of course the authorities had again warned against action without evidence. It was both directed and the small pockets of vigilante justice showing up in the city, and at Reign herself.

And now Kara; sweet, gentle and kind Kara, had called Reign out on her actions and basically dared Reign to come after her. Who the fuck had cleared Kara’s article? And as CEO, shouldn’t it have gone through her first?

Snatching her phone off the table she called for her Catco assistant.

“ _Miss Luthor?”_

Eve asked, chirped really, into the phone and Lena fought back her wince.

“Eve,” Lena scrolled down the article to some of the comments at the bottom. “Who cleared Kara’s article? I want to speak with them immediately. And get that article taken down, right now!”

“ _It was Mr. Carr, Miss Luthor_ , _I think,”_ Eve squeaked and Lena felt her eyes narrow. “ _He’s out right now, but I can have him call you? I’ll talk to IT right away_!”

“Make sure the article is taken down, immediately. Please, Eve.”

“ _Of course, Miss Luthor_.”

She barely gave Eve a chance to reply before she was hanging up in fury, staring at the number of comments and shares the article had. Well into the hundreds and Lena wondered just how much trouble she would get into if she removed the article herself, and erased its existence from the internet. Deciding it wasn’t worth the risk, because someone would definitely notice, she sat back and simmered.

Glancing at the clock she realised she still had a few hours until she was due to meet with Kara and clenched her fists. Fuck, what if Reign came after Kara?

It seemed unlikely, but no one else had called Reign out so completely, everyone had been too afraid, but the article was… _harsh_ , and clearly picking a side, Lena had thought Kara had more professionalism than that. Kara had addressed Reigns crimes, and addressed the crimes of her victims, like many other reporters, but she had taken it further and questioned her belief in what she was doing. A few other brave reporters had commented on similar threads, but none such as openly as Kara Danvers, and Lena was worried what the WorldKiller may do in retribution.

Her day passed quickly after that and she had been edgy and anxious the entire time. Plus Kara hadn’t picked up when she rang her, and Snapper hadn’t called her back either, and she mentally planned the verbal lashing she was going to give him.

She was itching out of her skin by the time it was twelve thirteen and by the time it was twelve fifteen she was striding from her office with her coat and purse.

“Jess,” she called as she exited and her loyal assistant glance up at her. “Please cancel the rest of my day. I’ll take urgent calls, but-“

“Of course, Miss Luthor,” Jess replied, and Lena felt a flicker of guilt for the stress she was putting her assistant through.

She called for her driver as she took the elevator down stairs, nodding cordially to a few of her technicians and a few faces she recognised, even as her attention was elsewhere. Namely on the vault in her mind where all of Lex’s research remained. She didn’t trust paper, and when she had discovered some, she had taken everything and burnt it to the ground. Lena wasn’t sure she trusted anyone with that information, and she certainly wasn’t ready for one of her brothers many fanatics, who had been vocal about her continuing her brothers work after he had been sentenced, to find the information and use it. No, it was better destroyed. That didn’t mean she hadn’t read it. For purely scientific reasons, of course. Lex had a brilliant mind, and his work reflected that. Now Lena was wondering if any of the sketches and notes she remembered could be of use to protect Kara from Reign, if it came to it. Not that she wouldn’t help the authorities if asked, but a Luthor building anti-Kryptonian weaponry would be like Christmas for the press, and she wasn’t willing to risk that sort of bad publicity just yet.

Her heels took her through her lobby, Luthor mantle strong on her shoulders, and down to her waiting car. She ignored the waiting paparazzi and their cutting questions.

Tyler, her driver, guided them quickly into traffic and towards the little coffee shop she and Kara frequented. It was one of Kara’s favourites, but on the other side of the city to CATCO, so that she didn’t frequent it as often as she liked. But she liked to take Lena there because Lena loved the apricot slice there.

It was also quiet, and the paparazzi had yet to realise that Lena sometimes went there, plus the other patrons didn’t seem to care about the blonde and brunette women in the corner laughing quietly.

Lena had Tyler drop her at the corner of the block and she walked quickly towards the café, thumbing through her emails as she walked, just another business woman more concerned with her device than the world around her.

The café was unique in the city, keeping with a sort-of industrial theme. The floors were like mixed copper and the wall paper was like that of a rusted wall, with bolts and welded patches of metal. The chairs were refurbished from an old school, but with much softer cushions, and the tables were polished dark wood. The lights hung from large carriage-like spokes, with smaller mechanical cogs holding the jars with the lights in them.

The staff liked to dress to the theme as well, mostly dark clothing, and they came in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colours. The waitress that was serving drinks as Lena walked in had shockingly bright purple hair with red streaks and far too many facial piercings for her own taste, but her smile was genuinely welcoming.

Lena nodded cordially and made her way to the counter. Kara wasn’t here yet, but Lena liked to think she knew her well enough to get her started at least. She also made sure to order her own apricot slice and took her table number to a booth in the corner. She didn’t have to wait too long for Kara, and while she did she tracked Kara’s article on social media. It was gaining traction; a lot of people were commenting on her boldness, either in praise or in ridicule. Some were applauding her bravery for calling out Reign, others were saying she was an absolute fool for her words, but they were all talking about it. Lena grit her teeth.

Kara, and whoever had allowed her to write the article and publish it, would be in for an earful.

It took another thirteen minutes and sixteen seconds, Lena was counting, until Kara breezed through the door. Her face lit up when she saw Lena, or maybe it was the sizable pile of food that had the table creaking under its weight.

“Lena!” She grinned as she got closer, moving very quickly and threw herself into the booth.

“Kara,” Lena tried to keep a smile off her face, she was very mad with Kara, but it was hard to be angry when Kara was beaming at her.

“Hi! Oooooh, thanks for ordering for me! Did you read my article?” She asked as she took a great big bite out of a hazelnut roll.

Lena’s brief rise in mood plummeted back to where it was. “Yes,” she said shortly, and her eyes narrowed. “I wanted to speak to you about that.”

Kara stilled, one hand part way to her mouth with a sweet roll mostly devoured. Her swallow was audible.

“Right, um, its had one hundred and thirty-seven thousand views?”

Lena felt her eye twitch. Kara’s tongue darted out, perhaps seeing something in Lena’s expression and she lowered her snack to her plate.

“What were you thinking, Kara?” Lena demanded quietly, voice sharp in the scant distance between them. “What made you think it was a good idea to write that article?”

Kara looked a little sheepish but not ashamed and gave a little shrug. “I had to. Someone has to stand up to Reign.”

“Supergirl,” Lena corrected and leant across the table the best she could with the amount of plates on it. “And she has been beaten, what, three times now? What can you do against Reign, Kara?”

Kara was frowning at her and leant back in the booth. “I get what you’re saying, but I’ll be fine.” Lena’s phone began to vibrate on the table and she glanced at it a moment, seeing Eve’s number come up on the ID, before she went back to glaring at Kara.

“How can you say that?” She demanded and her fingers twitched with the urge to wrap them around Kara and shake her until she understood just how stupid she had been.

“Reign isn’t some... dictator or something,” Lena said, trying to find the words. “Reign can actually kill you, and no one can stop her. She doesn’t care for our laws of ethics. And you’ve basically called her out.” Her phone had gone quiet for a moment and the screen went black before Kara spoke again.

“You were the one who told me ‘you can’t live in fear’,” Kara said slowly, and Lena felt her teeth clench.

“That is different,” she said carefully through gritted teeth.

“How?” Kara demanded, and she wasn’t being obtuse, she was generally curious and there was a small smile on her face as she leant forward. Lena’s phone began to vibrate again.

“How is me speaking the truth, telling Reign what she needs to hear, what the people need to hear, any different from you standing up to the people who try to kill you?”

“Because, Kara,” Lena said, without trying to contain her ire, though she was careful to keep her voice down, “the worst the could do to me is shoot me, and I had security and plans, I even had Supergirl’s help.” Eve’s name was glaring at her from her phone and she ignored it. Kara was more important.

“Reign isn’t a man with a gun, Kara,” she said voice turning pleading. “Can’t you see that? She’ll kill you, or rip you apart or- something! You aren’t safe.”

“Lena,” Kara hand came across the table to take her own, and at any other time she may have felt her heart warm at the comfort, but right now it just made her angry. Kara was risking herself unnecessarily.

“I’ll be fine. I promise.” Her phone was still vibrating and Lena turned her glare from Kara to it at Kara’s next words, “Aren’t you going to answer that?”

A low growl split her lips and she snatched her phone from the table as Kara went back to eating.

“Yes?” She asked, perhaps more sharply than necessary, but she wasn’t finished with Kara yet.

“ _Miss Luthor_!” Eve sounded stressed and instantly the hairs on Lena’s body rose to attention, every inch of her alert. “ _Reign was just here! At Catco_!”

Dread doused the fire of rage in her and she went cool all over.

“What?” She breathed down the line, a sharp inhale that caught Kara’s attention and she lifted her head, almost like a summoned puppy.

“Is everyone okay?” She demanded, partially rising from her chair.

‘ _Yes, a few broken windows, but she was after-‘_ Lena knew, even before Eve finished speaking, whose name she was going to utter, ‘ _Kara_!’

“Alright. Thank you ,Eve. Kara is with me. I’ll get her somewhere-“

“Human.”

“-safe,” Lena finished and slowly turned to look at the imposing woman in the café.

The black of her clothing stood out against the surprisingly colourful palate of the interior, Lena hadn’t noticed until faced with the void of light in front of her.

“Reign,” Lena said and took a moment to hang up on Eve, telling her she’d call her back.

“I hear you’ve broken my windows. Again,” she said and placed her cell on the table, heart racing.

Kara had gone still in the chair opposite her, and was ignoring her own ringing phone as she stared at Reign. The two were eyeing each other and Lena felt like she were watching to cats size each other up, though what Kara could do against Reign she didn’t know.

Reign’s gaze moved from Kara and on her. “They were your windows?”

Lena’s brain was firing as she thought for a way out of this situation. Reign showing up when she was with Kara, after going to Catco in search of Kara, didn’t bode well for Kara. She briefly thought she could try and claim Kara as hers, like she had with Jess, but wasn’t sure how successful that would be. Plus she didn’t really want to claim Kara, or she did because Kara was Kara and she loved Kara, but not like…how ever the situation may play out. Her best course of action was to try and figure out what Reign wanted and then head her off, while keeping Kara, and the frozen café-goers, safe. Her own life was an afterthought. Besides, Reign had said she wouldn’t kill her.

“Yes,” she said reaching for her coffee and if her fingers were tight around the mug, well, no one would be able to blame her. “My building. My windows.”

“I apologise, I did not know. It won’t happen again,” Reign said and her attention turned back to Kara, who had silenced her phone, but Lena could see that it was on speaker phone and she wondered who she was speaking with, or rather, who was listening to their conversation.

“I was looking for this human,” Reign’s lips curled as she said ‘human’ and Lena gulped. Kara, to her credit, wasn’t looking afraid. Instead she just looked angry, and had angled her body away from the booth. Though what Kara hoped to do against Reign, Lena didn’t know. She only knew she had to stop it.

“Well, be that as it may,” Lena said carefully. “You’re interrupting our lunch.” Maybe she could convince Reign to leave and somehow smuggle Kara from the city. Alex worked with the FBI so she should have some connections to keep Kara safe.

“The human need to consume food is curious,” Reign acknowledged, “ but I am here for you,” Reign trailed off, eyes flaring red as she looked at Kara. “Kara Danvers, reporter for Catco.”

It was hard to tell what Reign’s expression was, but Lena felt she was glaring at her best friend and got to her feet.

“Kara is a friend,” she said firmly, placing her hands on the scant space of table left to her after all of Kara’s dishes. “And as the owner of CATCO all decisions go through me,” she said, quickly forming a plan. If Reign thought Lena approved of the article, or made Kara write it, then Reign couldn’t hurt Kara. “So if you have a problem with any of CATCO’s decisions, you can take it up with me.”

Kara put a stop on that plan very quickly.

“Lena didn’t know about my article,” Kara confessed, rising to her feet and balling her hands at her side. “She had nothing to do with it. Everything I wrote is on me, not Lena. Keep her out of this.”

Lena was pretty sure her expression went from shock to anger and she glared at Kara. She was trying to protect her, damn it!

Reign glanced between them as petrified customers began to slowly step out of the café. Some had their phones out, but others were more interested in running for their lives. “A discrepancy,” Reign commented. “What is the truth?”

“You claim to be truth,” Kara’s voice had lowered and Lena’s eyes widened. She’d never heard Kara speak like this, low and angry and dangerous. “Can’t you figure that out for yourself? Or are you going to kill us both?”

“I cleanse the world of sinners,” Reign informed them both and her head titled as she looked at Kara, and from out of nowhere a paper was dropped onto the table. Cutlery clanged as it was disturbed and Lena glanced down at the headline before looking at Reign in fear.

It was the CATCO headline. **Reign is a murderer.** _Why her ‘justice’ is sin._ There was a large picture of a crime scene, taken at a distance, and was one of the many photos of the body bags down at the docks. It was helpfully captioned, ‘Reign murders undercover narcotics officer _.’_ And at the bottom of the article was ‘Kara Danvers, CATCO.’

Lena was a half step away from saving Reign the trouble and strangling Kara herself. How could she be so stupid?

While other brave reporters had gone after the WorldKiller, none had been so bold as to call her out so loudly and with no regard for the fact that she could kill them with far more ease than a gang leader or a corrupt politician. Reign could simply walk up to them and snap them in pieces, and the other reporters had been very careful with their words, crafty on an almost politician level, as they told the story. And none of them had called her a sinner. Kara hadn’t held back, and now she was going to pay the price.

“Your words are inaccurate,” Reign said, and she straightened proudly. “I am Truth. I am Justice. You have sinned.”

Lena’s breath caught as she registered what Reign had said, and Kara stiffened, body tensing and leaning forward. “How?”

“You have written lies,” Reign informed her, as one would inform a toddler of their misbehaviour.

Kara frowned while Lena tried to calm herself. “Where is my lie?” She demanded and picked up the article. “Everything I’ve written here is the truth! You are a criminal and Supergirl will stop you!”

Reign snorted. Actually snorted.

“Do not compare me to that bug,” Reign snarled and the edge of the table cracked and splintered at the force in which she got close. Kara, to her credit and absolute foolishness, didn’t move away as Reign came into her personal space.

“You claim to love the truth so much, yet you can’t bare to hear it.” Kara told her, a vindictive glee to her tone as she spat back at the WorldKiller.

“Supergirl will defeat you because she is in the right, and good always wins.”

“You humans,” Reign said after a pregnant pause while Lena was frozen. “You view good and bad as things you can control. Supergirl is no god, just as I am no devil. Her version of justice is no different to mine, you were wrong.”

“Supergirl doesn’t kill,” Kara spat back, knuckles white as they pressed into the bench top.

“And yet I am by far the more effective dealer of justice. You did not write that in your words. Why?” Reign tilted her head and Lena felt something niggling at the back of her brain, something she’d just stumbled upon. Knowing that if she focused on it she would lose it, like one would if they tried to catch smoke, Lena ignored it. It would come to her, soon. Hopefully soon enough to save Kara from whatever Reign had planned.

Kara appeared to flounder a moment before her eyes narrowed and she jammed her glasses further up her nose. “Because that isn’t-“

“Isn’t the narrative you want to believe?” Reign interrupted, and it was odd for her voice to be so…. Smooth. Normally it was… well, not exactly harsh, but defiantly inhuman, and now it was almost pleasant to listen too, but it was clear that she believed she had the upper hand.

“You write lies, Kara Danvers,” Reign said slowly, and her eyes flickered red and Lena nearly stumbled from the booth as she tried to get between Reign and Kara. “Lying is a sin. Sinners must be cleansed.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Lena demanded breathlessly as she tried to force her way between the two, and she hadn’t realised Kara could be so damn immovable when she wanted to. Lena ended up almost squished between the two of them, almost intimately pressed against them both. Reign seemed startled by her movement, for her head dropped and the fire in her eyes lessened, but she didn’t move back, leaving Lena with her palms pressed against the fabric of her costume.

“But I know Kara, and I know she isn’t a liar. She wouldn’t write lies,” Lena explained as quickly as she could, interjecting more plea than was probably decent for a Luthor into her words, but for Kara she was willing. Maybe she could delay Reign again, it had worked last time. Maybe it would work this time.

“Lets just…talk about this,” she pleaded quietly. “Please?”

There was silence from the WorldKiller and her chest rose and fell powerfully beneath Lena’s palms. The fabric of the suit was unlike anything Lena had ever felt and the scientist part of her itched to take it apart and figure out what made it. The practical applications for it could be enormous.

“There is nothing to discuss,” Reign informed her, eyes flicking back to their fathomless black as Lena looked up at her. “Sinners must be cleansed.”

“Then what does that make you?” Kara demanded behind Lena and she could feel Kara’s hands come around her and Kara guided her away. The strength Kara was displaying was incredible. Lena had no choice but to be guided away, leaving Kara open to Reign.

“Justice,” Reign informed her and Lena tried to get between them again, and when Kara’s arm forcibly blocked her, and Lena had to get Kara’s workout routine, she instead turned to Reign, placing a hand on her arm.

“Supergirl is justice,” Kara retorted.

“Actually, you both are rather similar,” Lena cut in quickly. Where the hell was Supergirl? Usually she, or her agency, would have shown up by now.

Kara’s head snapped around and Lena gave her a helpless shrug.

“Well, they are.”

“I am nothing like that insect,” Reign almost sounded offended and Lena quickly snatched her hand back, realising it was still locked on Reign’s forearm.

“You deal with your versions of justice similarly,” Lena corrected, and she caught Kara’s jaw falling open in shock and wondered how much damage this thread of conversation would do to their friendship. Supergirl… or Lena’s criticisms of her and her cousin hadn’t come up between them yet. Lena had been too reluctant to risk it, and besides, she was a Luthor. She couldn’t be heard doing anything other than praising National City’s hero without coming across as just another Luthor.

“You agree with me on this as well, human,” Reign said, and her dark lips curled. “I knew you were smarter than the rest of them.”

Lena glared at her. ‘That doesn’t mean your methods are any better, WorldKiller,” Lena snapped in response.

“But…” Reign appeared to flounder a moment. “I am more effective. I am Justice.” Her head tilted. “Do you not agree with punishment? Did you lie to me?”

Lena shook her head hurriedly. While she had said nothing of the sort she could understand why Reign had thought Lena agreed with her methods, and while they were brutal, they were effective.

Outside she could hear approaching sirens and knew she had to hold on a little longer. Reign probably wouldn’t kill her, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t kill Kara. Lena couldn’t allow it.

“You and Supergirl have very firm beliefs in the way you deal with your vision of justice,” Lena said, staring at Reign because it was Reign she needed to convince, not Kara.

“You see what you perceive to be a sin and punish those responsible. With death.”

There was a pause while Lena gathered her thoughts. She hadn’t expected a response but that didn’t mean one wouldn’t have been appreciated, even to give her more time to think.

“You don’t care for procedure or process or law, you deliver your own judgement upon these suspected sinners without any other confirmation.”

Lena expected Reign’s reply of, ‘I cleanse sin,’ and moved on.

“Supergirl has the same abilities,” or she did to Lena’s knowledge. But maybe Reign had other powers that Supergirl didn’t, but that currently wasn’t her point, “but instead of…judging… the perceived sinners she comes across, she delivers them to the authorities.”

“Where they are released and sin again,” Reign informed her helpfully.

Lena nodded slowly. “I can’t say that the way Supergirl works is lawful or efficient, but she lets the _people_ decide on the persons fate.”

“How can you say that?!” Kara demanded from beside her and she had almost forgotten that Kara was corralled in the booth, flanked to the side and behind by couch, and to her other side by the table. Reign stood in front of her, keeping her from getting out.

“Supergirl helps people! She doesn’t kill!”

“And while that is all well and good,” Lena said stiffly, really wishing she developed telepathic powers so she could demand Kara shut up and let Lena try and divert Reign’s attention. “That doesn’t mean her actions are _fair_.”

Reign was undeniably smug as she turned her gaze from Lena to Kara.

“You see, human? Your words are wrong.”

“How?!” Kara’s voice rose and Lena winced at the betrayal in her tone, but she couldn’t look at her yet, couldn’t tear her attention from Reign.  There was that feeling again, that thought, barely formed, dancing just out of reach.

“Supergirl has powers beyond what a reasonable human is capable of,” Lena defended her previous statement, needing to get the words out but not wanting to come across as another Luthor.

“As an agent of the state, as a person who works with the police,” Lena added, not sure if Reign knew what she was speaking about, “then her abilities are unlawful because she does not have a warrant to do what she is doing. Her vision and hearing are similar to wiretapping and x-ray machines.”

“Yes, she may catch her criminals in the act, but there are cases every month of her perps having their cases tossed out of court because due process wasn’t followed, because she injured the person unnecessarily, or because there was no further evidence. It came down to word. Supergirl versus the suspect.” Lena let out a sigh and shook her head. While she knew Supergirl was helping and was genuine in her actions, it did make it difficult for the due process to continue on her criminals. The defence attorneys laughed all the way to the bank over Supergirl’s ‘use of unreasonable force’ or her using her abilities to ‘spy’ on ordinary citizens. ‘And really,’ said one brilliant lawyer, ‘who is going to believe my client when he goes up against Supergirl?’

It was unfortunate that being a Superhero made it so easy for her to capture her suspects, it also made it murky waters for the processes afterwards, especially because she wasn’t acting, in most cases, as a private citizen. She was operating under government authority, which meant she was liable and had to follow the law.

“Our processes,” Lena said slowly, trying to get Reign to see for what felt like the thousandth time, “may not be perfect. In most cases they really _aren’t_ ,” she emphasised, recalling her own false arrest and imprisonment. It hadn’t been a highlight of her life, that was for sure. “But we have them because we don’t want the innocent charged as guilty, and we don’t want the guilty to go unpunished.”

“Punishment. The sinners I last cleansed were all in one place. It was easier than usual.” Reign commented. Lena wasn’t quite sure what to say to that.

“I was in jail once, not to long ago,” she said quietly, and the air suddenly seemed like it were sucked from the room as the WorldKiller tensed.

“I was framed,” Lena explained and swallowed down the bitterness that accompanied the reminder, “but I was still innocent _and_ in jail.”

Kara was quiet behind her and Lena let her words linger in the silence.

“You and Supergirl both enact your own justice on people. I’m not saying either is right or wrong,” Lena offered with a shrug. “And as you’ve heard, they,” she gestured out onto the street where people were watching with ide eyes and the authorities were finally arriving, “agree and disagree with how you both handle your suspects. You both take justice into your own hands. You are both alike.”

“We are nothing alike!” Reign growled, and Kara echoed her, adding, “ _They_! They are nothing alike! Supergirl doesn’t kill innocents!”

“Nor do I!” The thunderous proclamation rang around the room and echoed in Lena’s mind. Ah.

Reign didn’t kill innocents. It went against her very make up.

And that was it, wasn’t it, Lena thought to herself as a snarl split Reign’s lips. The reason the WorldKiller had come for Kara. She didn’t kill innocents, and yet she had. Reign had killed Nathan Davids, a man innocent of the crime for which she judged him, just as she had with the drug dealers. Kara had written an unfortunate truth and called Reign what she was designed to cleanse. A WorldKiller couldn’t sin, and yet, by her own definition, Reign _had_.

 _Oh_.

“This is about Nathan, isn’t it?” Lena asked Reign quietly and the dark eyes snapped around to face her and by the way the dark lips pressed together in a firm line Lena knew she was correct.

“Kara wrote a truth you don’t want to hear,” Lena reasoned slowly, the idea forming as she spoke it and solidifying into something tangible.

“I did not intend for him to die,” Reign informed her, as though one would tell another that the grass was green or the sky was blue, an absolute truth. But there was something different about Reign’s voice here, something that reminded Lena of a girl a long time ago, a girl who had looked up at the imposing statue that had been her new mother and told her she hadn’t meant to break the vase. That it was an _accident_. She hadn’t _meant_ to.

“You thought that if you could convince yourself Kara was lying then you hadn’t gone against your code, that you hadn’t sinned,” Lena’s eyes widened as she fully grasped the idea. Reign felt _guilty_.

Lena knew that this was perhaps the only time she had the opportunity to fully get into Reign’s psyche and maybe even _change_ it, change _her_.

Reign had been so focused on sin that she had not learnt about humanity, and that was, perhaps Lena’s fault. Lena had been more concerned with trying to show Reign humanity rather than teaching it to her.

Reign’s silence was an admission of guilt if Lena had ever heard one.

“You made a mistake,” Lena told Reign, making a conscious decision to soften her voice and posture.

The warmth of the WorldKiller was surprising under her arm and Reign’s head followed her hand down Lena’s arm and back up to her eyes.

“It’s okay to make mistakes,” Lena told Reign gently and there was some sort of warmth in Reign’s eyes now. “But a mistake made twice isn’t a mistake,” Lena said firmly, parroting the same words that parents all over the globe told their children. “A mistake made twice is a choice.”

Lena waited a moment to let her words sink in and then tried to nudge Reign in the right direction.

“We have a saying on Earth, that there are three sides to every story. Side A, B, and the truth. We only judge the alleged criminals when we have evidence, as much of it as possible, so we don’t make mistakes.”

“You still do,” Reign rasped, and her head was lowered again, probably staring at Lena’s hand and she hesitantly opened her fingers. Reign moved faster than Lena could comprehend, and a hand was on her wrist, keeping her arm in place. She froze, and glanced up into Reign’s eyes. They were a soft brown now, an amber glow to them and Lena swallowed and gently increased the pressure on Reign’s arm.

“Yes,” Lena said, thinking that Reign was referring to her own arrest and framing. “But we help each other,” and she chanced a glance over at Kara and offered a little smile, “to make sure that we don’t make stupid mistakes.”

There was a disturbance at the door and people in black uniforms flooded into the room, advanced weaponry pointed at Reign.

Reign ignored them and their shouts. “There is a pressure in my chest.”

Alex Danvers was there and Lena took a moment to register her presence before ignoring the agents spreading across the café, and coming in through the back door.

Lena carefully reached out with her other hand and lifted Reign’s off of her arm. The WorldKiller’s arm was a dead weight, but Lena was able to move it easily enough.

She took it carefully between her own as Reign continued, “It is heavy. It makes it hard to breathe. What is it?”

“Guilt,” Lena told her. “It’s guilt.”

“I am not a sinner,” Reign protested, but her voice had no bite. “I should not feel this… guilt.”

Lena glanced at the agents forming a circle around them, weapons primed, and she wondered just how this was going to play out.

“It was an accident, Reign,” Lena told the WorldKiller quietly. “We feel guilty for the things we didn’t mean to do.”

It occurred to Lena that Reign didn’t understand. She hadn’t grown up knowing about making mistakes and having people help her get through them, she didn’t know any better. She was worse off than a child in that regard. She had never needed to feel bad or guilty because she didn’t see anything to feel that way about. Her world view was naive and almost childlike, she saw everything in black and white, and was following a code that had only rules but no explanation. She was doomed to fail, as an individual, because she hadn’t had the opportunity to learn for herself. It was like she was brainwashed.

“A WorldKiller cannot sin,” Reign said quietly, and the lines around her eyes were creased.

“But humans do,” Lena said and she was acutely aware of the power she cradled between her hands, Reign limp to her movements.

“I am not human,” Reign told her unnecessarily and Lena shook her head gently.

“That’s the thing about humans,” Lena said with a soft smile. “We give things human traits so that they make sense to us, so that we can relate, so we can feel what they feel. You don’t have to be human to be, well, human.”

“I…errored. I… made a mistake?” Reign took a partial step away from Lena and she let her go but Reign still kept her hand extended. The agents around them tensed and there was the cocking of weapons. Agent Danvers had been keeping up a quiet and short running commentary of what was happening, but so far the agents weren’t going to attacks

Lena let out a long breath. If she was going to have any hope of changing how Reign view the world, this was probably her best moment.

“Yes. You have. But you can learn from it. You can make sure you don’t make that mistake again.”

Reign was silent for a long time, those dark eyes staring through her.

“Become human, you mean.”

Lena finally released Reign’s hand and rubbed the back of her neck. “Is that such a bad thing?”

Her question lingered in the café and so did Reign’s answer.

“No.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (#^-^#)


	6. Chapter 6

“You know,” Lena commented to the statue-like woman next to her, “humans tend not to sit so…stiffly...”

Reign, who was sitting next to her in her town car wearing some of Lena’s baggy sweat-pants and a band t-shirt, turned her gaze from the back of the drivers chair and to Lena.

“I am uncertain as to how I sit indicates whether or not I am human,” Reign responded, and her hand came up to touch the slender piece of metal around her neck. Lena had designed it years ago, back when she couldn’t go out in public without fear of assault, though this model was much sleeker than her original design. It was basically a face mask with illusion technology covering it. The mask moulded to the features of the wearer and then projected a life-like image of whoever Lena had programmed onto the subjects face.

As far as anyone who looked at Reign could tell, she was a woman in her late twenties- early thirties. She’d wanted to keep her own hair and Lena had agreed. Reign wasn’t recognisable enough via skin and hair alone, so Lena felt safe enough to take her out. As though the danger would be to her and Reign.

Lena had waited a week and a half for Reign to come back to her after her…conversation…with her and Kara. After Lena had asked her if being human were such a bad thing, Reign had said no, and had looked her over a long moment before vanishing. Obviously she had flown off, but to Lena, who hadn’t been able to register her superior speed, she had blinked out of existence.

The agents had maintained their professionalism, looking to Agent Danvers for guidance and she had dismissed them to try and find Reign, back to their base. The NCPD were taking care of witness’ statements and Lena knew the DEO would get whatever information the police did later.

Lena sagged against the table and let out a long breath before turning to Kara. Kara was staring out the window with a blank expression on her face and it took Lena laying a hand on her arm for her to come back to herself.

“Are you okay?” Lena asked gently, knowing that Kara didn’t have that much experience with murderous Kryptonian’s. Lena hadn’t either, not really, but she had probably dealt the most with Reign out of all of them. Which, clearly hadn’t endeared her to the DEO, if the suspicious glances she was given were to be judged. It was hardly her fault the WorldKiller kept coming back, but Lena wasn’t about to send her away if she could protect people, and maybe get through to Reign. It appeared she had, or at the very least helped her to question her task.

Lena’s main question though, was of her Maker. If Reign were doing as she were commanded, then that made her a slave. She didn’t have a choice in what she did, though to be fair, up until Nathan, she had been going about her task with no remorse. But Lena was starting to think that Reign didn’t know any better, and every interaction only further solidified the idea. It made her want to change her, to help her, and she refused to think of an unanswered door in the Luthor mansion and a brother who fell into darkness.

At Lena’s touch, Kara pulled back and inhaled and smiled over at Lena before looking to agent Danvers.

“Guess Reign’s gone, huh?”

Lena pulled away and folded her arms as Alex gave a little nod.

“We’ll try and track her but..” she shrugged a little and Lena understood. They hadn’t found Reign yet, and probably wouldn’t unless she wanted to be found. At least this time they weren’t too late and there were no black bags to cart away.

A thought struck her. “Where was Supergirl?”

Both Danvers tensed and Kara pushed her glasses up her nose. “I’m sure she was here,” she said and gestured out the window to the world.

Alex gave a little nod. “She was,” she agreed firmly. “She didn’t want to engage Reign while the two of you were potential hostages or collateral.”

That did make sense.

“Right,” Lena sighed again and straightened. It wouldn’t do well for her image to have a photo of her slouching against a table blasted across the media.

“I guess…. Lunch is ruined?” She wasn’t really sure what to do or say. Her time with the Luthor’s didn’t prepare her for social interaction after talking-down-an-alien-from-murdering-your-best-friend-for-writing-an-article-about-them-and-calling-them-what-they-are-designed-to-destroy. But on that note.

“What?” Kara asked and lifted her glasses again, her nervous tick nearly made Lena rein in her glare.

Alex lingered a moment, but Kara waved her off as Lena’s eyes narrowed.

“You’ll be fine, hm?” She growled out pointedly and Kara had the decency to look sheepish as Alex gave them a look before departing, probably to check in with the NCPD.

“Damn it Kara! What if I hadn’t been here? What if you had been alone? What if she had taken you somewhere? What if she had-“ And the rising pressure in her chest caught on its way out and she faltered and then she was in Kara’s arms, Kara’s warmth surrounding her and her heart thudding powerfully in her ear.

“It’s okay,” Kara said and Lena released the fear and dread in a choked sound as she brought her arms up around her friend. “I’m okay,” Kara reassured and she fit comfortably against Kara, closer than they had ever been, bodies pressed together as though to assure the other that yes, they had made it out alive.

She allowed herself one, choked sound of relief, holding Kara as close to her as she could, knowing she could be forgiven for such displays, before assuming her mantle and pulling away. Kara was reluctant to end the hug, if the way her arms squeezed tighter as Lena pulled back were any indication, but she let Lena go all the same.

“I’m afraid I have to go to CATCO,” Lena said with a wry smile at her best friend. “I can give you a lift, if you want? I’m sure you’ll have a story to tell.”

Kara shook her head. “Ill meet you there,” she said and glanced out the window to the police barricade holding the people back to where Alex no doubt was. “I want to talk to Alex.”

Lena gave a little nod and thumbed her phone for her drivers number. It was answered instantly and she enquired to Tyler’s whereabouts and soon she was promising to meet him at the end of the street, past the police barricade.

She glanced around at their meal and shook her head. “What a mess,” she sighed and looked out the window at the flashing lights and mob of reporters and the public watching with wide eyes. “I’ll have legal cover any of the costs from today,” she hesitated and glanced around the café again. For the most part it was completely undamaged. Reign had used the door. “Not that there should be much,” she looked over at Kara who had taken a bite of a scone and rolled her eyes fondly.

“Go through PR to issue a statement and then write your article,” Lena suggested and then felt her body soften. “And please, she emphasised, “be careful about what you write. I don’t know if I can talk Reign down again.”

And Kara’s eyes were shrewd behind thick lenses. “You’ve talked her down before,” she commented and Lena nodded. First with Supergirl and Reign, then with Reign the first time she came to her for tutorage. Lena was probably the only person on the planet who had talked with Reign so often, in fact, she was probably the closest Reign had to an acquaintance. She’d address that later over a bottle of scotch.

“I think Reign is…,” Lena hesitated and ran her fingers through her hair. “I think she’s lost,” she settled on finally.

“Lost,” Kara parroted, tone laced with doubt.

Lena gave a little nod. “Lost,” she agreed. “From what little she’s told me she was designed to destroy, to follow the mandate of her Makers. She knows nothing else. I think she has a basic understanding of words and their meanings, but she has no emotional attachment to the world she lives in.”

Lena slowly sounded it out to Kara, trying to put her feelings into words while Kara listened with wide eyes.

“She…. Its like she’s a child. She doesn’t know any better. She is sticking to what she knows.”

It struck Lena for a moment that it would be quite scary, or lonely at the very least, she had nothing to back herself up, only what she was told. It was a frightening thought. Did that mean Reign had been brainwashed? Did she know anything other than her purpose and powers? Lena considered it a moment before pulling away from such thoughts. She didn’t know if she should feel pity for someone who had killed so many people, but did it count if she didn’t know that it was wrong?

“She needs guidance,” Lena offered and gave a little shrug. “I don’t know why she thinks I can help with that but… I’d like to help if I can. And if my helping keeps her from continuing with her own sense of justice then….” She let out a sigh. It was a hard path to walk. Some people may not agree with what she was trying to do, but Lena saw an opportunity to teach Reign, to show her what humanity could be, what Reign herself could be, instead of following orders and destroying.

“Lena,” Kara said slowly and she was frowning when Lena tore her gaze off of the table to look at her. “Reign’s a _murderer_ , she needs to be brought to justice.”

Lena wanted to roll her eyes. “I am aware of that, Kara,” Lena huffed. “However, by her own definitions, by what she knows and believes, she is not a murderer.” There’s a thought. “If she can be captured and contained and taken to trail, would she be convicted?” She asked out-loud. “Would the insanity plea count?” It was something for the authorities to think on, if they ever managed to capture and contain Reign.

Kara just blinked at her. “What? What do you mean, she isn’t insane?”

Lena shrugged. “I leave the lawyering to my lawyers, but a good one would certainly look into that as an option. Anyway. I need to go,” she smiled at Kara as her friend seemed to try and process what Lena had just implied. “Will you be okay?”

“Y-eah,” Kara waved her hand. “Just go… do your thing.”

She took a moment to touch Kara one last time before she left the café, and her hand was warm and tingly from their touch.

She made it to CATCO with minimum fuss and assisted Eve with dealing with maintenance to repair her broken windows. She also made sure her employees had access to counselling if they needed it, and offered them the chance to go home for the rest of the day-paid. Only a few took her offer, most stayed on, which was very nice of them. Two that stayed on included Snapper Carr and James Olsen, and she wasted a minute of her ire on the wrong man when Snapper told her he had no knowledge of the article and that James had approved it. Snapper was impressed with Kara’s guts, but also furious she had ignored her own safety and Lena was more than happy to let him tear into Kara when she arrived. Then she had spoken to James. He had been the one to approve Kara’s article, stating when Lena demanded to know why, that he was certain Kara was capable of protecting herself and that they had followed usual protocol when reporting on a dangerous subject.

Lena had almost thrown her stapler at him. Eve, who had been hovering inside the door as Lena let out her fear and frustrations on James, had gone pale when Lena’s voice had dropped dangerously and James, for all that he towered over her and had a powerful presence, curled in on himself as she tore him a new one. She felt bad about it afterwards, while also feeling a flare of vindictive satisfaction. How dare he allow Kara to do something so stupid. Kara couldn’t do anything against Reign, and he should have told her, as both a superior and as a friend, that she should word her article more carefully.

Kara had, on her return to CATCO, sheepishly offered Lena donuts and a wry smile. She was lucky Lena loved her, otherwise she would have been in so much trouble. Fortunately for Kara, Lena was tired and just thankful she was alright. Still, Kara had been increasingly attentive in the days afterward, perhaps aware of just how frightened her friend had been. It had been nice.

She had even had time for Sam, who had been missing work several times and looking a little worn out. Lena had insisted Sam take her work home with her, and had passed off some of the easier work to other employees so Sam could spend time with Ruby. All in all, her life at the moment was going well, and so she had been surprised when Reign finally decided to show up.

It was her Saturday morning and she had just settled down with a fruit tea to read over a science journal when there was a knock on her balcony door.

“WorldKiller,” Lena greeted and placed her journal on the table. “I expected you earlier. Did something come up?”

Unfolding herself she rose to the feet and padded quietly over to the door to let Reign in.

“Human.” Reign glided into the room with a fluid grace rarely seen on earth. “I…have been in thought.”

“And?” Lena asked as she closed the door behind Reign. It wasn’t the sunniest of mornings, and there was a chill to the air.

“When I first came to you,” Reign said, turning to face her and standing strong in Lena’s living room, “I thought you would teach me about humans. I got distracted by sin,” Reign continued when Lena nodded in agreement. “I had not….” She fell silent and her frustration was visible in every line of her body.

“I sinned.” The hushed whisper in which Reign confessed to her mistake lingered on the air and Lena winced in sympathy of how utterly broken and lost Reign sounded.

“You made a mistake,” Lena offered as she came across the room and leant against her table, keeping her eyes on the WorldKiller in her living room, “by your own code. If you had done it on purpose, knowing he was innocent, then yes. I’d say you sinned.”

“They are calling me a sinner,” Reign said pointing out the window to the world outside.

“By most people’s standards, killing is wrong. Even of bad people,” Lena explained gently.

Reign just stared at her blankly and Lena decided to change tactic.

“Why are you here? Why come to me?” She asked, though not unkindly.

Reign looked at her for a long moment and then she was standing before her. Lena winced at the sudden movement, and Reign, seeing she had startled her, moved slower in response.

“Raozhium,” Reign said and slowly sank to her knees.

Lena couldn’t conceal her surprise. She stepped back and Reign’s eyes followed her.

She was kneeling; one knee on the floor and the other with her arm resting on it. Submissive. Something about it seemed wrong. To see something, _someone_ , so powerful kneeling to her.

“Reign?” She had to clear her throat again because her voice had risen to a croak.

“Raozhium. Teach me.”

Lena’s heart thundered and she knew Reign could hear it, but the Kryptonian WorldKiller remained on one knee with her eyes, surrounded by her mask, gazing up at Lena as though Lena were something special. As though she were some sort of saviour. As though she were Reign’s salvation.

Lena hesitated a moment longer, the pause stretching into the cold morning before she gave a little nod.

“Okay.”

Reign was standing with Lena’s next blink.

“Where do we begin, Raozhium?”

Lena’s brow tightened. “We can start by how you address me. My name is Lena.”

“Lena of House Luthor,” Reign replied.

“Just Lena is fine,” Lena corrected and a quick glance to the grandfather clock against the wall told her it was far too early to start drinking. “And humans tend not to use house, or family, names like that. Usually we just call people by their first names, or call them respectfully by their last names.”

She waited a moment to ensure Reign understood what she meant. “Just call me Lena.”

“You can call me Reign,” Reign told her, matter of factly. Lena gave a little nod. She didn’t really want to be calling Reign ‘WorldKiller’ out in public, and it…. Was not who she was, it was what she was, but not who she could be.

“I’m… not sure where to start with teaching you about humans but…. You can’t go out looking like that,” Lena said, mind whirling away.

Reign glanced down her body and then looked back at Lena. “Black is a complimentary colour.”

“I was referring to your….uniform,” Lena said carefully when Reign’s eyes narrowed behind her mask. And, to the WorldKiller, it was her uniform. Though Lena planned on eventually getting answers on how it worked out of the Kryptonian. She had a lot of questions she wanted answered.

“I’ll get you some clothes and then, maybe, take you shopping?”

“Shopping,” Reign deadpanned and Lena’s eyes narrowed.

“What’s wrong with that?” Lena demanded, voice rising in agitation.

“You can’t integrate yourself into society looking like that!” She pointed at the WorldKiller who followed her gaze back to the skull consuming the world on her chest. “People will run at the sight of you and that won’t teach you anything.”

“So…. Shopping?”

Lena folded her arms, eyes narrowing on the WorldKiller.

“I’ll have to get you some clothes first, though I don’t think any of mine will fit right. Then we need to do something about the mask.” Lena thought for a moment, knowing the likelihood of Reign removing her mask, if she even could, was very low.

“How does your uniform and mask work?” Lena asked Reign. She had figured that the Super’s wore their uniform under their day clothes, but if Reign wasn’t Reign all of the time then the suit, and indeed the person herself, had to go somewhere.

Reign blinked slowly at her.

“I wear it always.”

“You’ve never taken it off or put it on?” Lena enquired, wondering if somehow it materialised when Reign’s consciousness did. It would be marvellous technology if that were the case. Maybe something based in nanotechnology triggered by Reign’s awakening? But then would it have to be connected to her biology? Lena really needed to learn how Reign and her ‘mask’ worked.

“No.”

Lena nodded. “Okay, can you try to take it off? I’ll see if I can find you some clothing.”

She ducked away into her room and mentally ran through her inventory of clothes. She doubted anything she had would fit the WorldKiller. Reign was taller and leaner than she was, so her tailored clothes wouldn’t work. It would have to be simple clothes. Comfort clothes.

She dug around in her wardrobe and found a pair of grey sweatpants, far too long for Lena, and they had the MU logo on the front pocket. Her heart panged. They had been Jack’s from when they had been dating before Lex went psycho and ruined everything. She’d forgotten she had them and she brought them to her nose to see if she could find any traces of him on it. All she could smell was her laundry detergent ,and she forced down the ache of realisation that she had nothing of him left but memories, and tried to find some other clothing for the Kryptonian in her house.

She settled on a large and slightly faded Queen t-shirt, one of their concert apparel. She usually only wore it when she was at home but it would be suitable enough for a non-CEO to wear it out in public.

She didn’t know what size Reign’s breasts were but doubted the WorldKiller was her own size, so she left the bra’s and instead grabbed a set of new underwear. She kept some in the drawer on the off chance that she would have an overnight guest, but her opportunities had been few and far between since she had moved to NC and she hadn’t had the energy.

Sweeping her clothes over her arm she strode back into her kitchen and offered them to Reign.

It took a heartbeat until the WorldKiller was wearing them, mask still on, and Lena tilted her head in thought. Something would have to be done about the boots, but they could be hidden by the sweatpants until they got to a shoe store. The mask was the major problem.

Rubbing the back of her neck in thought she ran through a mental list of possibilities, discarding all as unsuitable until she remembered a collar based illusion she had begun back when she was living in Metropolis. The design had been driven by her own desire to leave her apartment and not be spat at in the street, screamed at, followed by paparazzi everywhere, or have people try to attack her while out in public. She hadn’t finished it, had found her passion for creating had been tarnished by once fond memories of Lex, but she could picture it in her head. She’d just have to make it again. And make it better.

“I need to make you something to disguise your identity,” Lena informed the WorldKiller and Reign tilted her head.

“Why? I am in no danger from any of Earth’s so-called heroes.”

Lena sighed. “It’s not your safety.”

“Then why?” Reign countered before Lena could finish explaining.

“Humans are judgemental,” she said shortly. “Many try not to be, and can actively censor their actions to the contrary, but many often are. They can be cruel and bigoted. I don’t want people able to recognise you because of how they will react.” She also didn’t want to have to deal with the fallout of her taking a WorldKiller for a walk. The very idea of the PR nightmare made her shiver.

“You are protecting me?” The WorldKiller asked in wonder, voice softening and lifting, even as it felt unfamiliar to Lena.

Lena chose to answer the question indirectly. “It can be hard working against peoples image of you. I want you to have a chance of a clean slate.” Lena wasn’t sure what she would do if somehow Supergirl managed to capture and contain Reign. She was starting to believe that Reign truly didn’t believe what she was doing was wrong, and that her mysterious ‘maker’ was the one controlling her actions, but Reign had still killed people. So somehow there needed to be justice for that. Though Lena wasn’t sure what kind of justice was appropriate, or what kind of punishment she should face. If she put on trial Lena wondered if she would supply a lawyer, or just let Reign face the punishment for her sins, though enforcing that punishment would be hard. Regardless, she probably wouldn’t have to make that decision any time soon, if at all, so she didn’t need to think about it.

Reign was quiet why she processed what Lena had said, and Lena let her think it over while she mentally redesigned her facial illusion.

“Okay,” Reign said and folded her clothing over one of Lena’s bar stools. “What is your solution?”

“I need to go to my lab,” Lena said and set about cleaning up after her morning. “I can build it there. Will you meet me there? If you land on my balcony I’ll take you down to my private lab.”

“Of course,” Reign replied easily, and then she had flown from Lena’s apartment before Lena could call her back.

She then drove to L-Corp, not surprising her employees who were working as she was usually a common sight, and took the elevator to her office. Reign was already there, sitting on one of the balcony chair’s and enjoying the sun.

Lena managed to smuggle her down to her laboratory with little fuss and then set about building her digital mask. It only took her a few hours, and she had Reign browsing American history while she waited. Reign had a lot of questions and comments, and Lena answered the best she was able, but for the most part Reign flew through page after page. While she wasn’t sure history, and indeed _American_ history, was the best starting point for teaching Reign about people, she needed something to keep the WorldKiller distracted and figured she could educate her at the same time. She made sure that the information was considered accurate by critics, scholars, and historians to ensure the least amount of bias, but knew that the victor of conflict often wrote their version. Still, it was a good foundation for American society. She’d make sure Reign learnt about other cultures later.

When she was done she used a modified ‘Sim’ program to allow Reign to choose her own face. Then she had settled the collar, a little bit too bulky for Lena’s tastes and she would improve it later, around Reign’s neck.

It took a 3D scan of Reign’s features and when it was joined with the face modification software, a completely new face was staring out at her. She took a moment to admire her handiwork and gave herself a pat on the back. She was good.

Then it was to the car and towards NC’s largest Mall; The Hub. Lena’s primary concern now that Reign looked distinctively not Reign, was getting the WorldKiller to act less of, well, an alien. Which was easier said than done. Which brought her from her thoughts enough to offer Reign a response.

“Because humans…move. We fidget and breathe and shift. We..live. We aren’t statues.”

Reign met her eyes and gave a nod. “I will attempt to slouch and blink.”

Lena let out an internal sigh and glanced at her watch. Maybe she could go to a bar in the Hub? It wasn’t too early to drink, was it? It was just past noon, surely no one would blame her if she did.

Feeling the car slowing down and eventual halting, Lena glanced out the window and then took a steading breath.

“Ground rules,” she said firmly and Reign tilted her head. “You are not to threaten or intimidate anyone.” She waited until Reign nodded, a sharp, birdlike movement, which seemed a little out of character for the sweet-looking face she was wearing, before continuing. “You will not call anyone human or earthling or anything of the sort. If people are wearing name badges you can call them by their name.” Reign nodded again.

“You wont stray too far from my side and you’ll do as I say, okay?”

Reign nodded once more. “I am curious to participate in this important ritual of humans. I shall do as you ask.”

“Okay then,” Lena wet her lips and took a steadying breath. She could do this. It would be fine. All they were doing was shopping. She was just an ordinary girl shopping with one of her girlfriends. She exhaled sharply. She could do this.

“Come on,” she instructed and opened the door, stepping out into the street.

Her driver had wound down the window for her, and at her request had remained in his seat. A woman getting dropped off didn’t raise as much attention as a chauffeur getting out of the driver’s seat to open the door like Tyler normally did.

“I don’t know how long we will be,” she offered apologetically as Reign slid from the car behind her.

“Not to worry, Miss Luthor,” Tyler said with a smile. “I’ll park up and entertain myself until you call for me.”

“Thank you,” Lena smiled at him and he tipped his head to her before she turned from him and started to walk towards the large glass doors of the Hub.

It had two winged lions on either side, guardians of the building, and was a mammoth construct of glass and steel.

It was four floors full of clothing and shoe shops, health and wellbeing shops, entertainment and leisure stores, and, of course, a myriad of food retailers.

It was busy for a Saturday at lunchtime but that was probably for the best. Lena caught a few eyes on she and Reign, but none lingered for too long and she breathed easier as no one confronted them.

“We’ll start with shoes,” she said and glanced over one of the maps near the entrance to find a familiar brand outlet.

Reign stuck close to her, eyes taking everything in, and likely ears as well, but she didn’t comment as Lena led them towards her new shoes.

The smell was familiar but as Lena glanced over the price tags she knew that her shoes tended to come with a few more zeroes on the end.

“What size are you?” Lena asked of Reign warily keeping an eye on the eager sales assistant approaching.

“Hi! Anything I can help you with today?”

Making sure her practiced smile was in place she turned to the retail worker. “Hello. We’ll just browse for the moment. Thank you.” With overeager employees it was best to shoot them down firmly but politely, and as soon as possible. While Lena appreciated their abysmal pay and desire for commission, she also preferred to be free to browse and then indicate her need for assistant. Having someone hover was… irksome. She was perfectly capable of looking at shoes, thank you very much.

“Okay! Ya’ll give me a shout if you need anything.” She smiled and then bounced off to greet the next potential customer. Lena caught the wince of the young man as she turned back to Reign and wondered why these employees didn’t realise their desperation was a turn-off for many.

“I do not know,” Reign answered her question, eyeing the range of shoes. Lena noted she was paying extra time to the black shoes and fought down her inner eye-roll.

“Line your feet up with the outlines over there,” Lena pointed to the line of feet along the front of the display and then quickly added under her breath, “at a human pace.”

Reign tensed, as though she had been about to follow Lena’s request at her full speed, before slowly walking over to the line. Lena discreetly shifted in front Reign’s boots while the WorldKiller sized herself.

“I am a size eight,” Reign announced as she returned to Lena, and the sight of the WorldKiller’s toes was startling to Lena, though she wasn’t sure what she had expected, but for them to be so…normal was a surprise.

“Take some socks, and then pick some shoes. What ones appeal?”

Reign scanned along the shelves and then strode forward to pick one. She hesitated before the shelf and cast a glance to Lena and it took Lena a long moment to realise Reign was waiting for her permission, or perhaps her direction.

“What colour do you like the best?” She asked, lowering her voice after a discrete check for eavesdroppers.

“Black,” came the expected response and Lena fought down her smile.

“What about style? Do you want heels or flat shoes?”

Reign gave a little shrug and went back to perusing the shoes in front of her.

“Okay,” Lena said slowly. “We’ll start at one end and work our way down. If you like one, tell me.”

Reign followed obediently as she walked to the front end of the store and pointed at the first few shoes.

Soon she had choices where Reign had seemed less disinterested about the shoe, and within a half hour there were even a few Reign tried on. Within the hour Lena and Reign walked towards the counter with a pair of boots, a pair of concealed heels with pretty gold wings on the side, some doc martins, and a pair of converse. Lena suggested Reign stick with the converse for the moment as they would be the easiest to get on and off.

In the bag Lena set Reign’s uniform boots on the bottom, to lessen the chance of anyone accidently seeing them and wondering about them.

Reign observed the transaction curiously, watching as Lena handed over her card and ignored the wide eyes of the teller as she realised the wealth that Lena must possess to have an NCBank Titanium Card. Dark eyes watched the numbers be accepted and then the receipt printed and Lena wondered if Reign had a comment to make, but she kept quiet and collected her bags.

Then they were heading into a large clothes store, and Lena’s first port of call was some undergarments for Reign.

There were popular brands with expensive tags and photo-shopped women posing in a variety of colours and skimpy clothes.

Lena picked a few sizes, guessing as to Reign’s size, and offered them to her.

“Try these on,” she instructed as Reign lowered her bag and then Lena’s mouth fell open.

“No!” She yelped and Reign froze, the Queen T-shirt part gathered just below her breasts and showcasing her abdominal muscles.

“In the changing room!” Lena’s voice was high pitched and she mentally cursed herself for not thinking her instruction through. Reign was like a child. She didn’t think anything of her actions apart from what they were. It was almost innocent.

“Right,” Reign said and let her shirt fall down but it snagged above her hip leaving a generous expanse of skin and Lena carefully averted her eyes.

Damn Kryptonian biology.

Lena collected Reign’s shoes and followed Reign to the changing room and leant against the wall, waiting for Reign. After a few long minutes where there was a lack of movement and sound, Lena relayed what she had said over in her mind in case she had missed something.

Realising that she may need to be more specific with Reign she quietly told her how bra’s should fit and that when she was finished they could pick out some clothes for her.

Lena was almost unsurprised when Reign pulled back the curtain to check in with Lena, but she still managed to glimpse more of the WorldKiller’s flawless skin than she had ever expected.

Reign was lithe and lean, all coiled strength. She reminded Lena of a cat, commanding and confident, powerful.

Her body was well defined and sculpted, and she would not be out of place in the halls of museums with statues dedicated to gods, or on the runway, though Lena was sure that Reign would soon be the best because she was beyond mortal possibilities.

Swallowing, Lena made sure the size that Reign had chosen fit her before shooing her back into changing room.

Lena instructed Reign to stay in the changing room and took the items to the counter to pay for quickly. On her return she had Reign remove the tags and then redress herself.

Now that Reign was wearing some basic clothing, and Lena had a fairly good idea of what size may fit her, they could find her some clothing.

They continued shopping and Lena repeated to herself, in every of the eleven languages she knew, over and over. _Do not drool over the Kryptonian WorldKiller. Do not stare at her abs. Do not admire her ass and legs in those jeans. Damn it, Luthor! You have better control than this! You will not drool over the Kryptonian WorldKiller._ She did, though. But she was only human, and Reign certainly was not.

Reign was a revelation, growing in confidence as the afternoon progressed, and so did her enthusiasm. Her eye was also quiet extraordinary and she had quite the selection of clothes by the time their day ended. A normal person may have balked at the total expenditure of the shopping spree, but Lena had no such qualms. She did, after all, buy a seven-hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar media empire without batting an eye.

As they carried Reign’s new wardrobe towards the exit, with Reign carrying far more than Lena, she considered her day for a moment. She’d actually enjoyed herself, once she managed to get her admiration of Reign’s physic under control, and gotten the WorldKiller confident enough to choose something of her own will. And that had been one of the realisations that sparked an idea in Lena.

Behaviour was learnt. People learnt at school. Reign needed to learn, therefore she needed to go to school. But she needed to understand the basics first. Her needed education wasn’t math or history or English. No, her needed education was about how to human, and baby humans learnt how to human at home and at kindergarten. It was probably going to ruin her, if it ever got out, but as Lena unlocked her phone to contact Jess she figured if Reign smiled at her like she had when Lena had approved of her choices (ones she had picked entirely by herself and without Lena’s prompting, resulting in a Kara like smile) then it just might be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and Kudos :D
> 
> Also, anyone a lawyer. If you are, or know a bit about it, what do you think about the legalities of how law, justice, the DEO and SG, operate in the DCU? Because I can pick up on quite a few things that are not legal and will get them into trouble if it were taken to court with any competent lawyer. Hacking of L-Corp anyone? 'Arresting' and detaining Max Lord anyone? I'm sure you can think of a few others.
> 
> And what do you all think of a name change. "How to Train your WorldKiller.' Have a nice ring to it?
> 
> Mwah!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the name. Has a nice ring to it, I think.
> 
> Also, are you all alive after the SDCC? I know I am not. I legit had a tear when I saw the photos. (#^_^#)

“Humans have a great deal of food selection,” Reign said, halting at the corner of the food court, a large space dedicated solely to the huge amount of food available. “I was not aware you required such immense amounts of sustenance.”

Lena bit her lip in amusement and shook her head partially.

“We don’t,” she said and took in the vast amounts of calorie clogging, diabetes inducing sugar, salt, and fat filled foods. “Or at least, not anything on this scale. Do you eat?” She asked, for she had never seen the WorldKiller eat or drink. Did she even need to breathe?

“I have not,” reign replied, watching a couple feed each other fries with a growing frown. “What is wrong with those humans? Can they not feed themselves?”

Lena followed Reign’s gaze and shrugged a little. “People who care about each other often do,” she offered, having never done it with her own partners and finding it infantile, unless it was someone being offered a taste of something. Such overt displays of public affection had little appeal to her.’

“That is…odd,” Reign commented after a long pause.

Lena followed her frown to the couple and then glanced around. She usually didn’t eat out, or at least not like this, though Kara had made sure she had sampled many of the offered foods over their many lunch dates.

“Would you like to try something?” Reign’s head swung around and her head tilted.

“Why?”

Lena gave it a moments thought. How did she explain how people loved and lived food to someone who didn’t need to eat?

“Well…”Lena hesitantly spoke. “We don’t always eat because we need to,” she offered. “A lot of people eat because they enjoy it. Some perhaps a bit too much,” she added with a wry shrug.

“Do you enjoy it?”

“Yes,” Lena answered easily. “I don’t usually frequent places like this, but I do enjoy a well cooked and flavoured meal.”

“I want some,” Reign said and then she was striding over to one of the many counters. Lena started and scurried after her, considering she may have a bite to eat herself.

“Food courts usually only hold fast food branches,” Lena muttered under her breath. “They tend to be quick, easy, cheap, and usually have little to no nutritional value.”

“What is this?” Reign asked.

“Butter chicken,” Lena replied, glancing over the menu quickly. “It is Indian in origin. There are many different types, and butter chicken can mean actual butter chicken,” she pointed at the simmering bowl, “or can mean any of these options.”

“Do you like it?”

Lena nodded. “I do, but I wont have any today,” she answered, sensing Reign’s next question. “It’s a little heavy for me today.”

Reign accepted her answer and moved on to the next. And so it went; Reign leading their way around the food court as Lena trailed after her answering any question the WorldKiller may have. She passed quickly by the fast-food chains, nose curling in disgust, perhaps at the myriad of thick and greasy smells, and hesitated over sushi and noodle places.

“What are you going to have?” Reign asked when they had made their loop.

“Probably Noodle Bowl,” Lena replied with a nod in the direction of one of the healthier food options.

“I will have that too,” Reign decided, and then marched up to the counter. Lena followed at a slower pace. Her arms were starting to hurt and she would have made Reign carry her own bags if it wouldn’t have looked so out of place.

“How does it work?” Reign asked, looking up at the board and then back at the counter.

“You pick what you want and they cook it for you, or you can pick some of the pre-cooked options.” Lena was eyeing some of the cream of chicken and thinking she’d pair it with some lettuce, nuts, and maybe some croutons.

Lena gave Reign a few more moment’s to pick something before stepping up to the counter. She figured she would order for them both, just to be safe.

“Hi. I’ll have a medium cream chicken with kale salad and… cashew nuts. Please,” she turned to Reign. “What are you having?”

Reign’s eyes were narrowed in deep concentration and Lena thought red eyes would not be out of place. It was also odd seeing the WorldKiller’s expressions-Lena was used to a mask, lips, and lines around her eyes, so it was startling seeing such a human expression on her face.

“Noodles,” Reign decided finally and turned her intent gaze on the suddenly stilling server behind the counter.  While she was on her best behaviour, and looking perfectly ordinary, Reign was still an apex predator and the kid behind the counter had clearly picked something up, even if his mind couldn’t register the threat.

“With…chicken,” she said, glancing at Lena and Lena had the feeling she was only picking chicken because Lena had. She quietly resolved to, if Reign enjoyed food, hire out a restaurant so that Reign could try high quality food without any pressure.

“Did you want anything else?” The pimpled youth asked, voice cracking.

“What do you have?”

The poor boy winced and stammered out a reply of drinks, some fried chicken and prawns.

Reign looked to Lena for guidance.

“Two of the chicken and prawn, please,” Lena nodded and glanced over the drinks. “And… a coke and a ginger beer. Thank you.”

The server quickly counted up the items and Lena paid, again with Reign’s eyes on the transaction.

They moved away to let the line continue and Reign asked her about money.

“What significance does handing over the plastic have?”

Lena, having resigned herself to answering all of Reign’s questions patiently and with honesty, took a moment to answer.

“I’m paying for the goods,” she replied finally, drawing on her knowledge of history to further her answer. “Years ago people used to barter or trade for their goods and services, now though, we pay for them. A set amount of money, usually, is what the price of an item or service is. We go to work, provide labour and time and skill, to get paid so that we can buy other goods and services. That is what I was doing.”

“The money is in the card?”

Lena nodded and directed Reign to a set at a table. “Some people use physical money, other people use credit or eftpos cards. Mine are connected to one of my bank accounts. The money comes out when I authorise it by giving my pin number. How was it done on-where you are from?” She asked, quickly altering her question.

“My pla-home shared its resources.” Reign looked between the two drinks and picked the coke. She cracked it open and gave it a little sniff before hesitantly taking a sip. Her nose crinkled a little but she then proceeded to drink the rest of it in one go so it must have appealed to her.

“Bubbles,” Reign commented, exhaling heavily and peering into her now empty bottle, almost forlornly.

Lena hadn’t expected that and was more interested in learning about Krypton than how disarmingly cute the WorldKiller looked complaining about the coke. “You shared your resources? All of them? With all of your people?”

Reign nodded. “We are only as strong as the weakest,” Reign shared and Lena had to fight back her surprise. She had not though that Krypton was similar to communist, but it did make sense. From what she understood of the planet, the people were a part of casts and each of them worked to the benefit of the people. They were selfless and generous, even if they were a little bit of elitist snobs.

“There is a similar social/financial system here as well,” Lena explained, “though it is not the most common or popular of structures…. Though I can’t speak much for capitalism.”

Seeing Reign’s confusion she opted to explain, glossing briefly over communism and capitalism as they waited or their food. She could see she had given Reign a lot to think about and made a mental list of some books and documentaries she would try to get Reign to consume.

Their food was delivered quickly and Lena thanked their server and waited for Reign to begin. The WorldKiller was a little lost and her eyes glanced around, taking in how the rest of the diners were eating before eying her own cutlery.

Lena quietly helped her out, deciding that offering her help was better than having Reign feel lost and confused. She told her she could eat with knife and fork or with chopsticks. Reign choose chopsticks, perhaps seeing the skill in which a young black girl was eating her own like a pro two tables down as she read a book with her other hand.

Reign was quick to stab her chicken when scooping it was unsuccessful and Lena bit back her amusement, feeling Reign wouldn’t appreciate it, and she didn’t want to come across as cruel. The WorldKiller was almost pouting as she tried to get the chopsticks to work for her, holding them down near the end as though it were a pen.

Her own meal was delicious and she made a mental note to suggest it to Kara at some stage, and was descending down that line of thought, when Reign finally had her chicken.

She went still, almost predatory still, as her mouth moved slowly and then she blinked and a delighted smiled spread across her face. Her next movements were too fast for Lena to see and she hissed out a reprimand.

Sheepish was a surprisingly charming look on the WorldKiller as she returned to a human pace. “This is… good, it is good!”

“I’m glad you like it,” Lena smiled and took a bite of her own chicken, spearing some kale on her fork before bringing it to her mouth. Reign watched the process with narrowed eyes and the attention made Lena a little self-conscious.

“What?”

“Can I have that? Can I have some more?”

Lena thought a moment, glancing around, before shaking her head slightly.

“Not here,” she said gently and Reign’s shoulders dropped. “I’ll ring a chef on the way home and have her make you everything especially.”

Reign perked up at that and it reminded her oddly of Kara.

“Okay,” she agreed immediately, and went back to examining her bowl. All that was left was noodles and broth and Lena was very interested to see how Reign handled it.

It turned out to be as amusing as Lena had initially thought. Reign may have mastered the use of chopsticks with solid foods, Lena wasn’t sure as Reign had eaten it faster than she could see, but she was stumped with noodles and broth. Lena had to take a sip of her drink, the ginger beer, to hide her smile as Reign turned her head to the side and her tongue came out, trying to catch the noodles as she hunched over her bowl.

“Try the spoon,” Lena suggested after trying to imprint the moment into her brain. Reign pounced on the spoon and then proceeded to scoop it into her mouth.

Lena had a few more pieces of chicken, scooping some cashews into her mouth, before offering the remainder of her container to Reign. It was eaten very quickly, “This is good!” Reign informed her, moth full, and Lena quietly corrected her table manners.

The WorldKiller frowned at that, but followed the instruction of not speaking with her mouth full, for the rest of the meal. Lena added more manners reading to her list of instructions for Reign.

The four deep-fried prawn and chicken skewers were adorned with a milky sauce and Lena selected one of each before offering the containers to Reign.

The WorldKiller swallowed her mouthful, moved the empty container to the side, and then slid the remaining deep-fried treats to her.

“Prawn. Chicken,” Lena said, pointing to the two with the skewer from her first prawn. She’d also have to teach Reign about food, animals, vehicles and places, common knowledge things to build the WorldKiller up as a person and give her a solid foundation for her future learning.

She cut herself off of those thoughts with a shake of her head. She was thinking of the WorldKiller as a child, almost like she was her child, which was ridiculous. But she did, in some way, feel responsible for her. It was hard for Lena to explain, and she thought it through as the WorldKiller nibbled on a prawn before inhaling it and then moving on to the chicken.

Reign was lost, and in need of guidance, and part of her reminded Lena of who she used to be, a little lost girl stepping into a world she knew nothing of, with people who were not kind or caring. The other part reminded her of Lex, someone who lost their way and needed a guiding hand and maybe, just maybe, Reign could be Lena’s redemption. She couldn’t get through to Lex, but maybe she could with Reign.

“How do you feel about food now?” Lena asked, almost rhetorically, voice amused. Reign nodded eagerly and Lena let out a little laugh.

“Well, I’ll make a call on the drive home if you’re still hungry.”

Reign nodded enthusiastically. “There is a growling in my insides. I want more.”

Lena let out another soft laugh. “Alright. We’ll do that.”

Reign sprung up from her seat, scraping her chair across the floor and drawing many eyes to them.

“Lets go!”

Lena let Tyler know they were on their way and he had parked out front, opening the boot for their bags. Lena kept her word and rang chef Williams on the drive back to her apartment and calmly ordered something of everything off the menu, letting Lyn’s shocked pause linger a moment before confirming the time she would have Tyler pick the order up. Professionalism held out, and chef Williams assured her it would be ready at half past six.

Reign had obviously been listening to the conversation and was almost vibrating with excitement when Lena hung up.

“Can we get more food now?”

Lena lowered her phone and looked at her bemused. “You’re still hungry?”

Reign nodded. “That is the insistent rumbling here,” she pointed to her belly. “I want more.”

Lena tilted her head. “Have you ever been hungry before?”

Reign shook her head. “This is unfamiliar to me. I do not need to eat. But I want to.”

Lena nodded. “Well..” she thought a moment. She wanted to teach Reign some proper etiquette, but Reign wanted to eat. She had to meet her in the middle. “What do you say we do some baking?” Lena wasn’t overly proficient at it, but she figured she could follow some instructions, and maybe full Reign up on snacks.

To Reign’s eager nod Lena directed Tyler to a supermarket, wondering how much today was going to cost her. It wasn’t an issue, Lena had more money than she could ever spend, but if it wasn’t necessary then it seemed…. Typical rich elitist of her. She made another mental note to have some supplies delivered to homeless shelters in the city.

They were inside soon, and Lena had Reign take control of the trolley. Lena didn’t shop very often. In fact, she didn’t shop at all, she had a housekeeper take care of that, and a private chef when she wanted, so it was a novelty going in and picking what she wanted. Reign was like a kid in a candy-store as well, eyeing all of the options with a contemplative gleam.

Lena ended up having to send the WorldKiller back for another trolley when she filled the first one to the brim of chips and cookies and other sweets- once she had sampled them all, of course. Lena had to use the second trolley to hold the discarded packets as Reign wanted to make sure she liked everything, and when she did, she promptly grabbed a few more bags. By the time they were done, the two trolleys were over flowing, and Reign had sufficiently charmed the women giving away free food samples that Lena almost felt like she should buy the supply, just to make up for the amount of samples Reign ate.

They had mostly pre-made packet mixes, but Reign did indicate an interest in making something from scratch, to Lena’s horror. Lena was certain she could follow instructions well enough, she was a genius, but didn’t want to push it. Besides, she had a plan in place to get Reign her own apartment and space.

The cashier was wide-eyed when she and Reign wheeled up to the conveyer and her voice was monotone as she asked how Lena’s day was and she replied with the pre-scripted response.

Soon they were driving back to Lena’s apartment and Reign managed to scoff four bags of potato chips, five packets of biscuits, three soda bottles, and four bags of lollies. Lena was a little nauseous and almost mentioned that she had an iron stomach like Kara, but quickly thought better of it. Gift horse and what not.

Reign carried almost all of their groceries and her clothing up to Lena’s apartment and dumped them on the guestroom bed, before Lena told her to put them away- hang them, and fold them- which Reign did in a matter of seconds. She’d then zoomed back to the kitchen to help Lena with the food.

Reign liked food, Lena learnt in that very long afternoon and evening, liked it a lot. She still didn’t appear to need it, she just wanted it, and once she started it took a frankly ridiculous amount until she was satisfied, but finally, after about twelve full course meals, eight entrees, five deserts, a few hundred biscuits, seven packets of chips, and countless lollies, Reign was content. Until the cupcakes came out of the oven. They were devoured before they even had a chance to be iced, and Lena had to put her foot down. She hadn’t even gotten one cupcake, and sure, they didn’t look the nicest as Lena had never baked before, but she wanted to try the fruit of her labour.

Reign had looked apologetic when Lena had explained why she was a little upset with her, having not thought that Lena, as having done half the work, may want half of the reward.

She had offered Lena the final cupcake, half eaten, and Lena had given into her desire for a drink. Explaining to Reign that just because she knew that Lena could not eat the amount Reign did, nor was she actually hungry, didn’t mean she might not want one at a later date, but she couldn’t because Reign had eaten all of them. Reign had then promised not to eat the rest of them until they were decorated.

They settled down when Reign had done the dishes, and Lena took one of her science journals, and gave Reign her e-reader. She had already brought a few books for the WorldKiller to read. While they had baked, and Reign had eaten, Lena had learnt that Reign knew words, she was fluent in English to the point she knew every word in the dictionary, but she didn’t have a connection to them. It was, she had explained, like she heard the word and the meaning appeared in her mind at the same time. She could recall the word and its meaning at will, but she didn’t have a deeper connection to it. Lena decided it was like Reign was a dictionary herself, or at least her knowledge was. She had the knowledge of a grown person, probably the person of the body she was inhabiting, but had no attachment to it.

Thankful that she wouldn’t have to go over basics like colour, places, animals, every day things, Lena instead turned to trying to awaken Reign’s humanity, or her equivalent of it, by challenging her thoughts. It had been what had originally brought Reign to her, so Lena set her up with some of the most familiar books in the world.

Reign had read her way through twenty-seven of them by the time Lena decided the cupcakes were ready for icing, and she had a few questions as they mixed the icing in. Her last book had been ‘A Christmas Carol,’ and Lena had to rely on partially remembered childhood reading, and a shoddy movie, to answer her questions. She tried to answer them the best she could, but in the end she felt Reign had more questions than answers, though she didn’t enquire further on the matter.

The icing had made a mess of her kitchen, but Reign had tidied it while Lena took a business call, and by the time late night came around Lena was quietly content. It had been a good day, for all she had spent it with a Kryptonian WorldKiller.

She had retired for the night, leaving Reign with one last read, Plato’s _Ring of Gyges_ , a look into philosophy and the _why_ of the human psyche.

Reign had lingered in the doorway of Lena’s guest room as she held the e-reader and had quietly taken Lena’s parting words.

“We aren’t always who we want to be, Reign, but the best part of being human is that we can be whoever we want to be. We can choose which kind of people we want to be.” Lena paused as Reign nodded slowly.

“We aren’t always good or kind, and some of us have lost our way, but the beauty of the human race is that we are all in this together. There is nowhere to go but forward, even if we don’t know what is there, because what’s behind us is….” She trailed off and let herself get lost in her thoughts.

Truthfully she didn’t know whether she was making the right decision with Reign, but she was going to try, she had no idea what the future held, but she knew they couldn’t go back. There was beauty in the past, it was true, but there was also death and destruction and so much pain. The only way forward was to learn, to be open to everything new, and to be patient and kind, and willing to share. It was the only way, she just hoped she could teach Reign that the best of humanity was worth fighting for, even if all she could see were the sinners.

Humans learnt, they evolved, they explored, they pushed the boundaries of what they knew, and what was possible. It was in their nature to challenge, to change, to create, to see the beauty in what was, and what could be. And maybe, just maybe, Reign could see that in humanity, and maybe even in herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cheers ya'll :D
> 
> Thoughts on a sorta communist Krypton? Or am I outta the park on this one?


	8. Chapter 8

Hillcrest Kindergarten was a medium sized kindergarten/nursery school cradled in the arms of a big hill. It had wide open spaces, with climbing structures, swing sets, sandpits, and all manner of engaging things young children needed to play and learn. There were rooms inside for learning, eating, and for the most important thing of all, naps.

The children were split into three, year levels and were split even further into more manageable groups of eight, for the youngest children, and groups no larger than twelve for the four and five-year olds. It was a generous ratio of student to teacher, but the pupils here came from the hill above, and the wealth was clear when looking over the houses and vehicles. Hillcrest was one of the premier day-care and preschool facilities in the area, and prided themselves on preparing their students for what would face them in the future. So far their prize students had gone on to be lawyers, judges, CEO’s, and even a senator.

It had state of the art security systems and most of the younglings were connected to the obscenely wealthy and famous, so the staff had tight NDA’s and even stricter background checks.

The owners were a lovely older couple, who had seen three sons go into the military and only one return, and their own grandchildren ran the boundaries of the kindergarten when they were staying with their grandparents. The list to get into the school was long, and positions were fought out between the elite, but the couple made sure to have spots for military kids, even subsidising their enrolment costs, because they sympathised. In addition, they had a compulsory ratio of race to area, a little tighter than National City’s own demographics, but obvious enough the moment you stepped into the school.

The two believed that the future belonged to their children (or grandchildren depending on the age of the child) and that the only way they could move on was to have all kinds of people mixing together to learn from one another. The staff were all ridiculously talented, multi-lingual, and even two of them Signed fluently, and were also very open and welcoming to all people. Progression, they believed, started young. And maybe that was why it was one of the best, most sought after, pre-schools in National City. To their credit they also offered six scholarships to underprivileged families in the area, in short, allowing the children a higher education than they had the money for, and accepted what the grateful parents could pay. Sometimes it was nothing. But the money they charged to the other families made up for the loss of a few kids in each year, so they continued the practice.

But, like all business owners, they were also driven by money, (having so many staff of such a high quality was expensive, not to mention giving some children free education and care) which was why Lena had first approached the owners.

It had been ridiculously simple, really. She had gone into a meeting, spoken quietly with Mrs Patterson, the owner, and told her what she wanted.

Reign, to come to school.

Of course, she hadn’t mentioned that Reign was actually Reign; the WorldKiller, and as Reign had been given a new identity and name, that wasn’t an issue. No, she’d merely said she had an alien who wanted to learn human culture and Lena knew, and so did Mrs Patterson, that the core of a human came from their childhood learning, and where better to learn than at Hillcrest?

Lena had used all her charm on the woman, but it hadn’t all been necessary, especially once Lena showed her the check she was promising. The woman had signed each of the NDA’s Lena had given her without prompting. It was all very simple.

Hillcrest Kindergarten would host the alien, who didn’t look like an alien, and carry about their day, letting Reign, or Regina as Lena had named her, observe and sometimes participate.

No harm would come to any of the children, though Mrs Patterson wanted to meet the alien first to discuss it with her, and Lena would be paying enough to cover ten children’s education for about five years. Plus, Mrs Patterson had the opportunity to teach a completely blank slate of a person all about how to be a good human, to teach her what humanity had the potential to be.

It had all been decided and within a few days Reign was going to school. Lena was going to accompany her for the first few days, maybe more if she thought Reign needed it, but Reign had vowed that she would not harm the children, even swearing it to Rao so that Lena had been assured, though Lena hadn’t doubted her word, and now they were pulling up to the kindergarten.

Reign, or Regina, was wearing tight jeans, a long sleeve white blouse, and her converse. She wore them well, and it wouldn’t be odd for someone to mistake her for a college student, or for a young business woman in casual-smart wear.

The area was gated nicely, and as it was set next to a school in an affluent neighbourhood, it was well guarded and watched, and Lena caught several cameras as she stepped form her car.

The only entry into the kindergarten building, seeing as it was guarded by a high stone fence, was through the front door.

Reign stuck to her heels, eyes glancing around her and taking everything in. Lena had already given her a specific set of instructions, and had tasked her driver Tyler with being their food delivery man for the duration of Reign’s time here. Not that he knew Miss Luthor’s strange new friend was Reign.

They had to stare at a camera to have their pictures taken, and though Reign’s would come up with Lena’s new profile for her, any extensive check that, say the DEO or government did, would show gaps, the brought security system of the pre-school wasn’t a match for Luthor skill.

“This glass is thicker than others,” Reign commented as the doors glided open and Lena nodded.

“Bulletproof.”

“There are multiple boxes of thick metal in the compound, what are they?” Reign enquired and Lena frowned a moment before the answer presented itself.

“Panic rooms,” she said and Reign’s head came around.

“Panic room, a room in which a building’s inhabitants can retreat in times of invasion,” Reign recited and Lena nodded.

“It saddens me that a school needs them.”

Reign didn’t have an answer for that, too interested in the walls around them. Unlike the outside, imposing and strong, the inside was colourful and disorganised. A giant tree was painted on the wall with leaves with children’s names on them, as well as photo’s. The rest of the wall space was covered in colourful, if not badly drawn, artworks. There were even group photos on the wall, a total of, Lena did a quick count, twenty three. Twenty-three years. It was a good run for such a respectable kindergarten, but not as long as it could be.

The waiting room was actually quite small, with only a half dozen chairs, a bathroom door, and two hallways with closed doors. There was a cubby for the receptionist but not much else, and it was increasingly obvious that this space was a transition space, just as the glass doors had been.

The receptionist, from Lena’s own background check, was a tall and broad-shouldered Russian, and was fondly called Gru by the students, on account of his long nose and lack of hair. But it could have been for the black clothing he wore as well. Lena was pretty sure what he was wearing, the look he was going for, could only be described as goth, but a mid-goth, for the children and their judgemental parents.

His name was Neko, and he had been one of their first students, and loved kids. When he was kicked out of home at sixteen he applied for, and got a job, as both a security guard, receptionist, and odd-job kind of man. It would have been a relatively easy job; nice hours, nice space, a awesome entertainment area if the pictures Lena had seen did it justice, a kitchen, and beds.

Neko glanced over them both before pressing a button and one of the doors clicked open.

“Mrs Patterson’s waiting on ya,” he grunted and went back to his computer.

Following his instruction Lena and Reign took the corridor where it open out into a huge space, the first of many rooms, where several small groups of children sat at low lying tables with pencils and card.

“You’re on time,” Mrs Patterson commented, from where she was standing next to one of the children and carefully guiding them in writing something on the paper.

Lena didn’t comment and Reign was too busy staring at her surroundings to give the aging woman her attention.

“You’ll be with Jamie,” she gestured over her shoulder to a short-haired, dark-skined woman who had orange highlights in her hair and wore faded, paint covered clothing. The woman lifted her head and then went back to helping the children colour in.

“I want no trouble,” her voice turned fierce but low as she addressed Reign, and Lena watched carefully as Reign looked her in the eyes.

“I am here only to learn, hu-person-uh.”

Lena pinched the brow of her nose. Maybe this was a bad idea.

“I am not going to harm anyone here,” Reign settled on, nodding once. “I am only here to learn how to be human.”

The two stared at each other a long moment, before Reign got bored and looked around her again.

“What is the purpose of this?”

Harrumphing, Mrs Patterson called for Jamie.

The woman untangled herself from the happy child in her lap and quickly came up to meet them, crayon smears on her palms, which she wiped on her sweat-pants.

“Hi,” she offered as she got close enough to them, eyes darting over them both in appraisal and then appreciation and Lena tilted her head in thought.

“Which one of you is the alien?”

Lena froze and saw Reign tense next to her.

“I am. I am Regina,” Reign said and offered her hand, a little bit too quickly to be human.

Lena had spent a lot of her time recently teaching Reign manners, and to her surprise, though maybe it shouldn’t have been, Reign was able to pick up on the basics very quickly.

“Cooool,” Jamie drawled, working something with her tongue and when she spoke next Lena could see a flash of silver. She shook Reign’s hand and then folded her arms.

“That your real name, then?” She asked and then grinned wildly, showing dimples. “Nah, don’t answer that. Mrs P,” she swung an arm around the old woman, “said you was wanting to learn bout people. Well,” she lifted her shoulder a little.

“You’ve come to the right place. We’re drawing at the moment, working on writing, and then we have our English class, and some reading. After a small snack we have math, and then lunch and play time. Then we have nap/quiet time and after that we look at science and social studies. Then its play time and then we pack up.”

She gave another shrug, distracted by a disturbance over her shoulder. “Pretty simple stuff,” she said and nodded to them before quickly walking away to a group of kids starting to grumble over a pencil.

“Chica’s! Compartan por favour.”

Mrs Patterson turned back to Reign and Lena. “I’ll be watching. Anything I don’t like, and you are out. Contract be damned,” she instructed firmly, and Lena nodded. That was fair.

All in all, it was a very boring day for Lena and she spent most of it using a tablet to work while she kept an eye on Reign. The WorldKiller watched, and took everything in, occasionally writing something down in the note-book Lena had given her where Lena would answer her questions later. Otherwise she was silent.

She didn’t appear to know how to treat the children, and when they tried to interact with her Lena watched curiously. How would someone who has never interacted with a child, or had any experience with children apart from seeing them on the street, handle children and their endless questions.

Reign sort of brushed them aside and quickly moved away, or distracted them by throwing a toy, gently, in their direction. Lena had to reprimand her several times for moving away from them at an inhuman pace.

Reign responded by complaining that they smelt, were dirty, and had countless things on their hands. Lena hadn’t laughed so hard in a long time, though Reign appeared confused by her amusement.

She wasn’t to know that Lena had found the image of the big, scary WorldKiller backing away from a group of children, in fear, hilarious.

The day was over quickly, and while the children were sleeping or quiet, Lena answered Reign’s questions or gave her more books to read.

It was a completely uneventful day, and both Lena and Reign were emotionally tired from it, and made plans to stop at a café to get food on the way home. They left before the parents, or nannies, arrived to pick up the children and promised to return again the next day.

Mrs Patterson had no issues, as of yet, with the WorldKiller in her midst, so that was a win. Plus Lena had managed to get a lot of work done, as no one had been able to bother her all day.

So she was pleased with the result. Time would tell, but she hoped Reign could learn human behaviour, even if she had complained that all the learning the children did was elementary. It wasn’t about their education though, Lena had told Reign, it was about people and what they learnt from each other. Reign had given that some thought and vanished back into her guest room; probably to read.

Lena didn’t see her until the next day when they drove back to the kindergarten. Their day progressed the same as the day before, and by the end of the week both Lena, and Mrs Patterson, were confident in leaving Reign with the children.

She was a little apprehensive about it, but as Sam still had unexplained absences, and was in general hard to catch up with, Lena was required at both L-Corp and at CATCO, so she had to leave Reign to her own devices. Plus her chief editors and reporters had been urging her to take an interview on her encounters with Reign, not that she was bout to share them with anyone, except maybe Kara, and she certainly wasn’t about to tell them that she had a WorldKiller under her roof.

It would prove to be a decision that would have consequences, ones that she certainly hadn’t seen coming. But, when babysitting a WorldKiller, she should have been prepared for anything. She wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

~*~

Reign examined the child before her, grubby fingers seeking purchase on her clothing and she tried to hide her disgust. Humans were so dirty, the young especially.

“Play,” the child demanded, giving a tug, and Reign deducted it was a female offspring by the long hair and pink clothing.

Another sharp tug, ‘play!’ and Reign nodded down at her.

“Very well, child. What is the purpose of this play?”

The girl beamed, toothy and round, and tried to drag Reign along, clearly ignoring, or likely not understanding, the question Reign had asked of her.

They were outside, on a lovely fine day, and the children had claimed two of the wooden structures called playgrounds to use as their base camps. Reign approved of the location. Height was an advantage in conflict.

“Come,” the girl demanded, pigtails flying and Reign let herself be led by the shirt, wondering what the child wanted of her. Her Makers hissed in her ear but she ignored them. For some reason it was easier to ignore them around the children, innocent and wide-eyed as they were.

She had been observing the children for nearly a month now, turned away from her Justice crusade while she examined the young humans in their education facility, and she had become increasingly bored of them.

They were slow, clumsy, dirty, and lacked the basic understanding for a proper conversation. But they were also bold, curious, and they were… good. Earlier in the week one of the little man humans, a boy, had wanted to hug one of the female children. She had not wanted a hug, perhaps sensing how dirty her playmate was, but when she had tried to push him away, and when he kept trying to hug her, one of the minders had stepped between them.

The boy had been confused and nearly cried, sensing he were in trouble, and Reign had been curious. What had the child done to deserve such a sharp, disproving tone?

The teacher had been clear in telling him not to hug someone who didn’t want to be hugged, and Reign had written the incident in her notebook to enquire of Lena later. So far she had gone through three notebooks, written on both pages and in Kryptonese script, of her questions, either from people or from books. She had started on the television, but much of that was beyond her understanding. Movies were good though, she had been going through children’s movies, first at pre-school, and then on Lena’s demanding television, where she could pick them out.

The children had been watching Peter Pan, which was an odd name, and was about a boy who could fly and kidnapped children. Reign wasn’t so sure that kidnapping was the right thing to do, but when she enquired of it, the children had shushed her and told her that Pan was saving them.

Reign did not understand it and had written in her notebook to ask Lena later.

“You’re a lost boy!” The young girl said, and positioned Reign at the foot of the wooden structure that the children liked to climb.

“No,” one of the other ones protested. “Pan!”

It set of a tense argument before Reign’s height was appraised and then she was declared Pan, the leader of the children. Awarded a stick, a ‘word according to the children, she was instructed to run around with the children, until their game had been set.

It went very off script, and soon the children were stabbing each other with sticks and having them confiscated, but then they were climbing their structures and sliding down the slides.

A few climbed onto the wooden bars on the ground and jumped off them, shouting that they believed, and Reign, very confused by this, asked them what they were doing.

“Fly’n!” Came her response and she observed them lining up, following the orders of one of the older girls there, one with black skin and bushy hair, and jumping off the bench, less than a foot off the ground.

“I Be-weev!” Shouted one boy, he had very little teeth and glass around his eyes and he jumped the highest of them all, before landing wrongly, Reign saw it as it happened, and crumpling to the ground.

He started to howl immediately, and Reign backed away as adults came running and he was guided away, still crying, as the adults warned the children to stop with their particular game. They tended to ignore Reign, and she them, but they addressed her in this instance, or referred to her, as they warned the children that ‘Regina’ was watching, and that they had better not play the game again.

Reign was not impartial to her new name, it meant Queen, after all, and Queen’s were rulers, so she was accepting of it. Plus her name, Regina Grace, had allowed her to have her own living quarters.  Lena had arranged for it.

She had a kitchen which she never used, relying on the card Lena gave her for food, a shower, bathroom, and bed with a small living space and television. Lena had set the television up to play whatever Reign wanted.

It was good, but lonely by herself, and more often than not she found herself seeking out Raozhium with new questions and stayed in her guest room. Her apartment was nice, she only wanted her neighbours to stop shouting at each other. Two of them, Sarah crack-whore, and Miley fat-bitch, liked to shout insults at each other what seemed like all day. They complained about Sarah’s screaming children, though to be fair the complaint was justified, and Miley’s shit-tone of garbage spilling out into the landing.

Most arguments ended with the slamming of doors and then blissful silence, but sometimes the two managed to shout at each other for long enough that the landlord came up to silence them. The two would part ways, at truce, and then go back at it the moment he had gone.

So Reign was not surprised when the children continued to play the game.

After a long while they pointed to her and demanded she come and play with them.

Bemused, but willing to indulge them for no other reason than to see Raozhium smile at her when she told her later, Reign obliged.

It was barely a step up onto the log and she was double the size of the children she was squashed between. Their balance was appalling and Reign again wondered how humans survived infancy, they were so breakable, dependent, and clumsy. The world should have selected only the strong by now, but even the weak ones, like the small one in front of her, smaller than the rest by a head, survived.

“I be’weeve!  
The children coursed as they jumped off the log and when it was Reign’s turn, she glanced down at the step.

“Jump!” Instructed one of the children, with very bright orange hair.

“You have to say the words first!” Said another and Reign looked at him in confusion.

“What purpose do these words have?”

The children were oddly helpful to her, she had to admit, and they were more patient with her than she with them, which was only fitting as she was superior in every way and they were dirt beneath her boots. Still, they explained things to her, and didn’t think her presence were odd. They accepted her and moved on. Lena told her it probably helped that she didn’t treat them like children, or that she treated them the way she treated everyone else; with polite disinterest. Apparently, the children liked her questions, that she was interested in what they were doing, and accepted their logic and moved on.

“They make you fly!” Excited squealing and giggling nearly shattered her ear-drums but she fought down the ringing in them with a wince.

“I can already fly,” Reign informed them. “Why should words have any affect on what I can already do?”

There were groans and shaking of the heads and Reign looked at them with increasing confusion. What had she done wrong?

“Its in the movie! They believe in magic enough to fly!”

Reign blinked. “I do not know of magic, but I am able to fly regardless of this belief.”

The children grumbled again, and she could see they were tiring of her.

“Come on, go,” said the one behind her and Reign let out a long sigh.

“You have to say the words!”

“I believe,” she intoned dryly and stepped off the log.

Immediately there was silence, probably the most silent the kindergarten had been since the children had arrived, and then there were wide-eyed screams of delight.

Reign was hovering in the air above the grass.

“I did not lie,” Reign said, still hovering, or flying, a foot above the ground.

One of the children, the same red-headed girl was on her hands and knees, trying to look under Reign’s feet for something. And when she crawled under them Reign lifted just a little bit higher; what if that child touched her? It was grubby.

“You can fly!” There were screams of delight and then half of the children bolted for the doors to inform their teachers of this fact, and the other half launched themselves at her.

She was so startled by it that she dropped to the ground and froze as they clambered on her, putting their filthy hands all over her clothing, and Rao forbid, on her skin, as they sought purchase.

“Up!

“Fly!”

“Wee!”

They shouted in chorus and by the time one of the teachers returned to see what had caused the trouble, Reign had several off each arm, one on her back and front, and a few clutching her legs like those fuzzy creatures she had seen on television. The name escaped her a moment, and she was trying to recall what they were (Koala’s, Raozhium would later tell her after giggling at the mental image Reign’s story had produced).

Jamie had brought her hand to her mouth as Reign tried to delicately shake the children off, and she had thought she had hurt them when they screamed, but it was a pleased scream and it was reinforced by the cries of, “again, again!”

“Remove these offspring from my person,” Reign demanded of the human teacher, shaking a little to jostle the children. Raozhium had cautioned her of using her strength around the fragile young, and she was wary of injuring them least she break her promise to Lena.

The children giggled and swung from her limbs and, resigned, Reign huffed and resolved to out wait them. They had little attention span for such dedication.

“Come on, children,” Jamie instructed, voice warm and hitching and Reign narrowed her eyes at her.

“It’s time for a rest,” she continued. “We’re starting the Little Mermaid today or you can have a nap.”

Excited by the thought of a snack before their rest time, as the schedule demanded, they detached themselves, dropping from her body and scrambling for the doors. A few remained on her legs, clearly pleased with the game, and Reign was then forced, after a long moment of consideration, to walk into the building, with a child on each leg.

“So you can fly, huh?” Jamie asked quietly as the two entered the building, voices high above the children.

“The young ones informed me that speaking the words “I believe” makes you fly. I was instructed to test this fact.”

Jamie was quiet a moment, eyes shrewd.  “What did you find?”

Reign tilted her head. Lena had informed her that though two of the adults here knew she was not of Earth, that it would be best that she hide her abilities from all parties involved. She had not used them, apart from her hearing, speed, and vision, since she had knelt to Lena what seemed like months ago. If she were to inform this human she could fly, then the human would be closer to figuring out her identity or origins. It did not bother Reign, but she didn’t want Raozhium to get into trouble for what she had organised.

“The use of speech does, in no way, affect one’s ability to fly.” She examined the door before her while she let the human process her words.

“Release me, younglings,” she demanded, and they giggled at her, obviously not taking her tone seriously.

“You will not fit through the door,” she informed the children who were gleefully clinging to her legs and whining that their parents couldn’t carry them as far as she could.

Instead they clutched tighter and Reign felt flames of anger lick at her insides. That was enough.

She lifted her foot and jerked it towards the ground, still being careful not to harm the children or cause any damage, but containing enough momentum to jostle the children from her leg.

They sat there, rather dazed, as she lifted the other leg and deposited the children on the step.

Choosing not to address their wobbling lips and trembling eyes she slid between them and into the building. She had been generous, with both her attention and the use of her body as a climbing pole, they should have respected that.

Perhaps she could partake in this ‘nap’ that had been promised. It turned out to be more dull than she had imagined, and the movie about a fish girl who wanted to be a human and marry a boy she had only seen had been even more so. The flames licking her insides twisted and grew until she were tense and uncomfortable while sitting on the mat with the children.

It was freeing to turn her attention to something else, as she did when her cellular device buzzed.

It was Raozhium.

Pleased to know that her teacher was thinking of her Reign read the text and stood, fluid and graceful as the fire inside her faded.

“I will see you in the morning,” Reign informed the room and pivoted. She had places to be. Raozhium wanted her. She had something to give her.

Reign was very curious as to what it could be. She didn’t want anything, nor did she need anything. She was both better and more than humans, so what could Lena give her that could possibly fill a hole in her, as she understood the humans did with possessions or people.  Still, Raozhium continued to surprise her as far as humans went, and she was very curious as to how Lena would do it next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been getting a lot of traffic lately, did someone fic-share me? (#^-^#) Happy New Year.


	9. Chapter 9

Reign stared at the sleek motorcycle. “I do not understand,” she said, eyeing the gleaming paint and inky black tires.

Raozhium  handed her a key. “It’s yours,” Lena said with a smile and shrugged.

Reign looked down at the key in her hand before looking back at Lena.

“Why?”

It took Lena a while to respond, and while she thought, Reign examined the motorcycle. It was black, a shade of black the humans called matte black, with gleaming silver metal and a windshield at the front.

“You’ve been with me for a month now,” Lena said finally, and Reign turned to give her her attention.

“I like to reward…not good behaviour, though I do reward that in its own way… um, peak performance,” Raozhium settled on saying, with a little nod.

“You have progressed well and, well, I wanted to show you I appreciate it. As we get older, humans I mean, rewards for good behaviour are less and less, seen as for children, but,” she ducked her head into her shoulder a moment. “You’ve been learning to be better, and I wanted to reward you for that. A month can be… a long time.”

Reign turned back to the motorcycle and felt an odd stirring in her chest.

“I don’t want you to think you’ll get a reward every milestone but… I wanted you to have something, something that is yours, that you have earnt.”

Reign clicked the button and the bike blinked at her in response, a light and happy beep accompanying it.

“These are also for you,” Lena said, handing over a folder and Reign turned from the bike to look at her.

“The road rules,” the human said, with an odd twist to her lips. “I want- would like- you to read them all, and remember them, and obey them of course.”

Reign accepted the folder and glanced over at the bike.

“I do not know how to ride,” she said, and the confession was difficult, stilted and her Makers grumbled in her mind but she ignored them when Lena smiled.

“I’m going to teach you how. You’ve picked up everything else quite quickly.”

There was that funny stirring in her chest again.

“So, I’m sure you’ll pick this up in no time as well.”

Reign took a moment to look at Lena and then turned her attention to the files in her hand. She used her speed and intellect to read them in their entirety and had read every single word and page by the time Lena had finished speaking.

“I have read these Road Codes. I know the rules. Will you teach me now?”

Raozhium had forbidden, or heavily encouraged, Reign to not use her powers. It was very difficult as they were part of who she was, she was Reign, not Regina Grace, but she had kept their use to a minimum the best she had been able, but she wanted to be able to get around on her own, more than walking or taking Lena’s servants vehicle.

Lena lifted a brow. “You’ve read them all?”

Reign nodded.

“Every one?”

Reign nodded again. “Teach me now?”

Lena’s brows did an odd little dance but she let out a breath and nodded.

“Alright.”

She ran Reign through safety gear, mostly for appearances sake, and for fragile humans. Reign was once again struck with how breakable they were and marveled at how such a brittle species survived infant-hood when everything seemed able to hurt them.

Reign was quite partial to some of the safety clothing- it was black and tight and reminded her of her uniform, which she had stored safely in a box in Lena’s apartment. Lena’s security was much better than her own, and not many people went to Lena’s apartment, so she was content to leave it there.

Lena showed her how to mount and dismount the motorcycle, showing her how it turned on and explained what the gadgets and dials were on the front of it. They flicked through to find the lights and indicators, which Lena informed her she should certainly use, and the horn. Reign liked the horn. But she especially liked the way the motorbike rumbled beneath her, feeling its power. It was nice to feel something else with power, rather than feeling as though everything around her was weak.

Lena even drove around the empty hanger, for they were at a private airfield just shy of National City and the Luthor jet was currently elsewhere, so the location was private, flat and easy enough to teach Reign at. Reign liked seeing Lena on the bike. It was fitting for her Raozhium to have such exquisite taste. The picture pleased her.

Mastery of the motorcycle did not take long, and soon Reign was asking to go faster. The balance part was a little more tricky, as she sometimes over corrected herself and had to use her powers to ease the bike back to a standstill, but she learnt quickly.

Lena even offered to let her ride it down the runway, just to see how fast she could go.

Reign was very enthusiastic and was back on the bike by the time Lena had finished speaking. She hadn’t been able to fly very often, only really using her sight to see the world around her, so she was eager to go fast, by human standards.

The runway was long and after checking, at Lena’s behest, to make sure there were no planes incoming, or on the runway, Lena told her to go for it.

Reign didn’t have to be told twice. The bike hesitated for a moment before launching forward and Reign grinned as she accelerated around the corner and then bolted down the runway. It was not as good as flying, nothing was, but it was as close as she was going to get, so she relished the wind in her hair as she leant down over the bike and pushed it to its limit. She wasn’t worried about halting, she could simply lift into the air and there would be no problem with her stopping. But she didn’t want to damage Lena’s, or her, bike. It looked expensive. She would try to keep it in good condition.

Far too soon for her liking she was nearing the end of the runway and reluctantly she braked, using her strength and a little bit of flight in order to spin the bike around before roaring back down towards Lena. Perhaps, one day, she could go flying with Lena? She would like that, she thought to herself as the woman in front of her got bigger and bigger.

~*~

Reign examined the grubby hands of the child holing a pencil out to her.

“What, little human?” She enquired and the little girl giggled shyly.

“Daw sum thin’,” she said through gaped teeth and Reign winced slightly as spittle came very close to landing on her. Humans were disgusting.

“What for?”

The offspring were starting their morning by drawing- or what they liked to call drawing. In fact it was mostly coloured lines that made no sense to Reign, and how the parents of the young thought it was art Reign did not know.

“to give to sum one.” Her face was scrunched up, teeth missing, and Reign looked down at hopelessly lost.

“Why should I want to give someone poorly drawn coloured lines on parchment?”

Most of Reign’s vocabulary was lost on the child, but by the way her lip quivered Reign’s sentiment had been passed on.

“Goes on da fridge,” the child sniffed, looking crestfallen and Reign was bemused.

“Your…drawing… goes on the fridge?”

The child brightened again, nodding, and holding out a pencil in its chubby fist.

Reign slowly accepted the pencil, sensing Raozhium would want her to do as the child wanted and stared at it.

“But…what do I draw?” She did not like having no instructions, having time to herself. It was such a foreign concept that she didn’t know what to do when she was alone, and she often found herself needing Lena for guidance. This was one of those instances. What could she draw? She could try her hand at anything, and that was the problem. How did she choose one thing? An increasingly familiar stirring began in her chest and she reached for her phone.

“Raozhium,” Reign spoke to Lena.

There was a pause and Reign could hear Lena leaving her desk and the sweeping sound of the balcony door opening.

“ _Reign. How can I help you_?” She sounded it out slowly, words unfamiliar on her tongue, but her accent wasn’t _that_ terrible. Reign did appreciate the effort.

“ _You are improving_ ,” she said, and gave a pleased nod that Lena couldn’t see. It was only fitting for Reign to be able to teach Lena something, and she had expressed an interest in the language and culture of Krypton. Reign was satisfied with the exchange.

“ _The human offspring-er child- wants me to draw.”_

There was a moments hesitation as Lena repeated what Reign had said, offering English translations and stumbling on ‘to draw.’

“ _With a-uh_ -“ Reign stumbled a moment. Kryptonese didn’t have a word for pen, they hadn’t used them on Krypton. “Pen,” she said in English.

Lena took a few moments before her voice brightened down the line. “ _To draw, on_ …. Paper?”

“ _Yes_.”

“ _What is wrong with that_?”

 _“I do not know what to draw_ ,” Reign replied, feeling safe in knowing that the humans near her didn’t know her tongue, and Lena hadn’t judged her yet, and likely wouldn’t.

Lena was silent a long time. “ _You can draw anything that you want. Draw what feels natural to you_.”

It was not much help or guidance on the matter, but Reign thanked Lena, hearing her assistant trying to get her attention in the background, and hung up after saying goodbye.

She turned back to the child, who had lost interest in her and the conversation and was stabbing her crayon with evident glee into her piece of paper. It was already a mess of scribbles and ribbons of chaotic colour.

Reign slowly folded herself at one of the benches and the children instantly offered her their crayons, telling her their ones were best. Reign selected a black one. Black was her favourite. Most things she owned was black. It was flattering on all things.

Then she stared at the blank piece of paper for a long, long time, wondering what it was she could possibly draw.

She didn’t really know what to do, she had never had to draw before in the entirety of her existence, so what purpose did it serve.

“-it on my fridge. Mummy likes showing it to people.”

Reign tuned into the conversation a little girl was proudly having with another human child. The teacher hovering nearby was quick to offer comment. “Your parents are proud of you, that’s why they have it on their fridge, so they can see it and show it to people.”

Reign considered this as she turned back to the mockingly empty piece of bleached mulched up and pressed tree. It was a matter of pride to have art work on a refrigerator. Was Raozhium proud of her? She had gotten her a motorbike, of which she had driven to kindergarten this morning with relish, perhaps going a little too fast in some areas, so maybe Lena would like this too?

There was a slight meow, faint and weak, and she briefly gave the noise her attention before it was silent and she raised her pen to the paper. What could she draw?

The children around her were commenting on themselves and their family and their animals in their pictures, a few with aunts, uncles and grandparents, and several residences. They were drawing themselves but… Reign couldn’t not draw herself. It would draw attention to herself. But… there was another thing she could draw.

Hesitantly she set the pen down, the click of it muffling the muted meow sound and started to draw.

Several minutes into her drawing, for she absolutely had to get it correct- why attempt something unless you aimed to get it perfect- and there was a sprinkle of coloured, glinting dust on her page.

She glared at it, and lifted her eyes to the child with the red sparkles on his hands and all over his ‘artwork’.

“Sowwy,” he said shyly, and tried to brush some of the glinting shards from her page, smearing them more so. Reign snatched her artwork and glared at him. His lip wobbled and his eyes filled with tears and Reign frowned, trying to lessen her glare but fairly certain she was failing.

“I accept your apology,” she said and turned away, to angle her body away from him, hunching her body protectively over her own art.

She continued to carefully draw her own masterpiece, hearing the occasional small sound from before, but it wasn’t enough to distract her. She only turned her attention from carefully shading in an arc when she felt a presence behind her.

“That’s a… er… lovely skull there, Regina,” one of the Raozhium commented to her, and her tone was unfamiliar and didn’t seem to fit with her words. Reign ignored her and kept drawing.

“Perhaps you could… erm… make it nicier?”

Reign blinked at her picture, dark shadows and fine lines forming a skull and lifted her head.

“Nicer?” She enquired and glanced down at her picture. “It look’s perfect. Not a line out of place.”

She frowned a little at the human. Did it not see that every line had been crafted to perfection?

The human stammered. “What I erm mean is that, erm, maybe you draw something a little more child friendly.”

“I am not friends with the children. They are grubby, smelly, and irksome. They cry frequently, cannot feed or bathe themselves, and are petulant and have no self control.”

The human was stunned to silence for a long while, eyes wide and mouth open.

“Um, maybe add some flowers or some colour?” Her voice had lifted to a nervous squeak, and that was a sound Reign was familiar with and she couldn’t hide her grin as the woman left her in peace.

She glanced back at her black and white artwork. Perhaps it could use a little colour.

Tilting her head in consideration she lifted her pen again. It took her only a few minutes until there were fine detailed flower petals behind her skull, though little bits of red sparkle still clung to the paper. Reign had used her superspeed to get rid of them, but it seemed every time someone moved more fell on the page. The colour was pretty, like glinting blood jewels.

“Offspring,” she addressed the same child who had spilled the red sparkles on her page in the first place. “What are these red sparkles?”

“Glitter!” He replied enthusiastically and the table bumped as he reached across the table for a jar of the sparkles.

“Here!”

Reign snatched the jar before he could pour it over her artwork. His may like to be a mess of sparkles of the rainbow, but Reign’s would be subtle and all the more powerful for it.

She was careful, using her speed and agility, to carefully align the glitter where she wanted it, and soon her flowers had blood red sparkles in the centre, and she lifted her artwork up to appraise it.

“Sparkles.”

Reign jumped, lifting the table and taking the children leaning on it up into the air. She used her speed to right them all, returning it to its previous state before turning to face Raozhium. She had not even heard Lena’s approach.

Lena had an amused smile on her face, even if she did look a little confused.

“Not exactly appropriate for toddlers, don’t you think?” There was not a question there. Reign had soon learnt that when Lena used that tone she was not asking, and she looked at her picture confused.

“A little… dark, maybe go for something lighter next time,” Lena suggested, and she quietly told one of the children tugging on her hand that she had drawn a marvelous picture and her parents would be proud to hang it on the fridge.

“But…. It has red sparkles?”

Lena’s head lifted and she gave a little shake of her head, leaving Reign very confused, but she didn’t think Lena was angry. “I meant in subject matter. Children don’t need to be exposed to that sort of thing so early.”

Death is part of life,” Reign commented confused.

Lena nodded. “But not quiet so early in life. We want to protect them for as long as we can.”

Reign didn’t really understand but nodded anyway. The children would be exposed to the harsh and cruel world soon enough, she didn’t know why they would delay it. It would only weaken them. Still. It was what Raozhium wanted.

“Why are you here?”

Lena lifted her hand and Reign’s eyes narrowed in on the brown paper bag with the grease stains at the side.

“Food!” She cried, delighted and reached for it. Lena pulled it out of reach and Reign paused looking at her confused.

“The traffic cameras logged a certain black Ducati going forty-five in a thirty zone,” Lena said, voice low but firm and Reign felt her shoulders tense.

“I did not see the camera,” Reign said and gave a little nod. “I will look for them next time.”

Lena lifted the bag away from her again and Reign frowned. Lena didn’t look thrilled.

“You were caught speeding, Regina.”

“Ooooooh,” commented one of the children. “Naughty,” she giggled.

Reign glared at the child but quickly gave her attention back to Lena.

“I will not check for a camera next time?”

“There wont be a next time,” Lena said firmly. “Because you wont be driving fifteen miles over the speed limit!”

Reign nodded with wide eyes. “As you wish.”

Lena let out a sigh and then handed her the bag and Reign pounced on it with a grin.

She had devoured the burger and was part way through the fries when she paused to offer Lena one, as she had seen the adults make the children do to share.

“I’m meeting Kara for lunch,” she said with a shake of her head, but she was smiling as she said it. “Thank you, though.”

Reign dropped the chip into the bag, suddenly not hungry.

“Please don’t speed. Someone could get hurt,” she added, seeing Reign’s hesitance but she smiled when Reign nodded begrudgingly in agreement.

“I’ll see you tonight,” she turned and gave a little flick of her fingers, and the child sitting next to Reign flapped her hand wildly.

“Bye! Wave bye,” the latter comment was directed at her.

Bemused Reign lifted her hand up, refusing to copy the ridiculous movement. The child could not get air-born so why it was trying, Reign did not know.

Feeling off-balance, and not knowing why, Reign glanced down at the picture on the table. The blank eyes of the skull stared out at her, but it was oddly beautiful with the flowers and glitter.

She would present it to Lena later, she decided, and have her stick it on the refrigerator. Lena’s was silver and plain and Reign’s artwork would make it look better.

The children were settling down for their next lessen when the meow started again and Reign looked around for the source.

“What is that mrow sound?” She demanded. It was getting increasingly loud and wailing, and Reign wanted it to be silent.

The children and teachers glanced around and Reign stalked over to the back-packs, zeroing in on a blue one with the giant S symbol on it. Sneering she tugged the bag off the peg and lifted it.

The yowling got louder.

She opened the zipper, careful not to break it, and then paused.

Green eyes were narrowed at her and it made a hissing sound.

“A cat,” Reign said in confusion, reaching in and lifting it out. The creature, pitiful as it was, tried to escape, but was in no condition to escape a World-killer.

By chance Reign had grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, something she had seen on the black box in Lena’s apartment, and the baby cat had gone still.

“Billy!” Jamie said, voice sharp and biting and Reign followed her gaze to the boy who had sat next to her and spilt his sparkles on her artwork. His lower lip jutted out and his chin was tucked in.

“Why is there a kitten in your bag?!”

Reign examined the small, ginger animal. It was small, a few sizes bigger than her palm, and had soft fur.

The boy was scuffing the floor with his sneakers, head lowered and shoulders hunched and Reign strained to hear the explanation.

Apparently one of his classmates had a grandparent die and so he had brought the cat to comfort her, only she wasn’t here today. Billy had only wanted to make her feel better and give her something to cuddle.

The teachers had almost swooned at the theft, but Reign was left feeling as though she had missed something.

“How does this creature provide comfort?”

The adults looked at her and Billy answered, looking up at her with earnest eyes. “Puss n Boots makes me happy and I wanted to make Dani happy.”

Reign looked at the small creature again as the children agreed that animals made you happy.

“And you were going to give your kitten to your friend to make her happy?”

Billy nodded, and Reign tuned out the reprimanding he received for taking the animal, too focused on her own thoughts.

Billy was bringing an animal to his friend to make her happy. Reign wanted to make Lena happy, especially as she was not happy she had broken the law. Therefore Reign had to bring Lena an animal. She was not fond of dogs, they were loud and demanding and needy, kind of like children, but she had observed cats and knew them to be clean, polite and dignified.

Reign should bring Lena a cat. But not a small cat. Small cats were for small people, Reign decided as she handed the kitten over to a human. A big human needed a big cat.

Now, she only had to find one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up! The chapter that inspired this entire fic! The scene from the summary ;)


	10. Chapter 10

Lena glanced at the time and let out a soft sigh. Kara, who had been mid-sentence telling her of a bar fight she had seen, shut her mouth abruptly.

“Are you okay?” Concern was written on her features and Lena felt a pang of warmth at how Kara genuinely cared for her.

“I’m fine,” she shook her head. “Continue.”

Kara’s brow twitched and a crease appeared between them.

“Are you sure?” She asked gently, reaching across the table to touch Lena’s hand a moment.

“You look tired,” she commented and gave a sheepish shrug.

Lena held her breath and let it leave her, some of the tension fading as she flipped her hand on the table and left it there. Kara’s fingers were touching her palm now, the soft, tentative, shy, strokes rousing her skin to attention like soft pinpricks.

“Its been a rough month,” she allowed and lowered her head a moment to her plate. She had gone for a grilled chicken and cheese panini and half of it remained on her plate.

“What’s going on? Anything I can help with? Is it-“ she hesitated and glanced around the café before adding in a muted whisper- “Reign?”

Lena blinked and her eyes narrowed. How did Kara? Oh, yes. Kara had come to see her after Reign had burst through her ceiling what felt like a month ago. Lena had explained the situation then, and while things with Reign were progressing nicely, Lena did occasionally have to field calls from the ‘FBI’ in the form of Alex Danvers asking her if she had any news on the WorldKiller.

Lena responded by asking her if the DEO had a means of capturing and containing her yet, and when Alex said now, Lena replied that she didn’t currently know the whereabouts of the WorldKiller. Which, wasn’t totally a lie. She knew, or at least hoped Reign was at Hillcrest, but she wasn’t certain of her exact location. Besides, if she did tell Alex what she knew, what she was doing, then Alex would have no choice but to act and bring in the big guns- and the woman attached to them. Supergirl.

She had lost each confrontation with the WorldKiller so far, and Lena didn’t really want to see them go for round three. The city maintenance budget really didn’t need to be pressed. Besides. Reign hadn’t been active in over a month, and no one had even seen her let alone been a victim of her justice. So, Lena was certain she was making progress and felt no need to tell the authorities about it.

“It’s Sam, actually,” Lena said slowly, and curled hr fingers slightly to catch Kara’s fingers.

“Mh?”

Her palm was tingling pleasantly with Kara’s featherlight touch and she let out a content sigh.

“She took time off- to find some answers- she said,” Lena shook her head. “I handed more of Catco over to Mr. Olsen but… even with that I am being stretched between the two companies. Not to mention I know Ruby is getting worried, even though Sam checks in via text occasionally.”

“Where is Ruby?” Kara’s eyes had narrowed in concern.

“Staying with a sitter. I’ve seen her since, and she seemed to be okay, missing Sam though.”

Kara pursed her lips, looking deep in thought, before blinking out of it and shrugging. “Well, maybe she just… needs time to herself?”

Blue eyes sharpened knowingly. “Kind of like someone else I know.”

Lena smiled and lifted a brow but didn’t comment.

She glanced at the clock and let out another sigh. “I’m sorry to cut this short but I really must be going.”

Kara nodded and was on her feet before Lena could register the warmth missing from her hand.

“Of course! Thank you for making the time to see me.”

Lena gathered her purse and slung her jacket over her arm. “I always have time for you, Kara.”

Kara beamed and held her arms out for a hug. Lena didn’t pause before she stepped into the embrace and sighed happily at Kara’s warmth and presence.

“I missed you.”

Kara’s arms squeezed tighter and then she stepped back, leaving her hands on Lena’s arms. “Take care of yourself, please?”

Lena lifted her eyes skyward a moment and gave a little nod.

Kara’s gaze sharpened. “Otherwise I’ll come by every lunch with burgers and shakes.”

Her warning was playful and teasing and Lena allowed herself a small chuckle. “You’re trying to get me fat,” she joked, hiding a brief flicker of uncertainty at her words behind humour.

Kara nodded eagerly. “Absolutely! You wont be able to run away from me!”

Lena’s heart did something funny and Kara’s smile twisted into something less amused and more…something else Lena couldn’t place.

“I’m not about to run from you,” Lena promised and dug in her purse for a fifty. She left the bill inside the bill fold, covering her meal, Kara’s several, as well as leaving a generous tip. Kara tried to protest but Lena lifted a brow and tilted her head just so, and Kara sighed good-naturedly and rolled her eyes. But she was smiling as she did it.

“Well,” Kara lifted her glasses up her nose. “That’s- that’s good.”

The two of them walked at a fair pace towards the exit and Lena thumbed at her cell, informing Jess she was on her way back.

“I’ll walk you to L-Corp,” Kara said and Lena began to protest but fell silent quickly.

“You paid for lunch, I walk you back to L-Corp,” Kara said firmly, and Lena wasn’t willing to pass up further time spent with the blonde.

Kara offered her arm and Lena adjusted her purse before taking it, linking them, and commenting on the day.

It was such a wonderful day to be outside, and after being stuck in her office for what felt like years, the sunshine was bright and fresh.

They were quiet a long while, and Lena was content, wondering how she had lasted going for so long without having Kara in her life- texts and phone calls weren’t the same- when Kara shifted next to her. She had noticed, from the corner of her eye as they walked, that Kara had been meaning to say something, but would change her mind and fall silent,  before contemplating speaking again. It was a pattern that lasted the short six minute walk to L-Corp and Lena wondered what was so important.

“Earth to Kara,” she said playfully as they paused at a pedestrian crossing and she nudged their shoulders together.

“Hm?” Kara seemed to startle back to herself and Lena gave her a curious tilt of the head.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“Oh, um, “ Kara flushed and hesitated and pushed her glasses further up her nose.

“Um.”

The light changed to green and she started walking, aware that she was guiding Kara while Kara was deep in thought.

“So,” she hedged and Lena guided them around a dog-walker, wondering what was so important that Kara wasn’t able to voice it-normally she had zero filter.

“What-erm- what happened with-“ she glanced around them and lowered her voice. “You-know-who?”

Lena nearly snorted. “A Harry Potter reference? Really?” She shook her head with amused fondness. Kara was a precious human-being and Lena would do anything in her power to keep her as she was, happy, hopeful, and seeing the best in everyone.

“You know who I mean,” Kara groaned a little and jostled her but Lena just laughed to hide her racing mind.

She was not about to tell Kara the truth, that could get her into trouble and if anything happened, well, Lena didn’t want Kara involved. Plus, it would cause discord between her and Alex if Kara didn’t tell Alex what she knew.

“I suggested Reign learn about humanity, from humans,” Lena settled on, not sharing everything but giving enough to hopefully satisfy Kara’s concern for her. “The WorldKiller hasn’t been seen since.”

“So, you don’t know where she is?” Kara asked and there was an undercurrent of… something else to her tone, enough to make Lena pause and gently guide them off the sidewalk. They were at L-Corp anyway, so she wasn’t concerned about giving her friend a few minutes more of her time.

“Hey? What’s wrong? She never hurt me,” Lena promised, lowering her head and lifting her eyes, searching Kara’s face.

There was a crinkle between Kara’s brows and her eyes were bright and worried.

“She hasn’t hurt me, and she hasn’t hurt anyone else.”

Kara’s jaw worked, processing some emotion and Lena waited patiently for her to talk. “It’s-just- she- she’s _evil_ , Lena. And she’s still out there, even if we haven’t heard from her in a while. She needs to be stopped.”

Lena took a while to chew through her words, ignoring the paparazzi doing a terrible job of hiding in the bushes at the edge of the building, and over the road in a white van. She saw Kara’s point, and indeed, she once shared it, but after extensive time with Reign she… was less inclined to lock her up and throw away the key.

“I’ve rather enjoyed this past month,” Lena commented idly. The people of National City had been living in a hushed silence, with crime only now steadily increasing, and Lena hadn’t had any assassination attempts in a long while, so she was enjoying life currently.

Kara frowned at her and Lena shrugged. “I receive death threats, credible death threats, once a week, and the other threats,” she ran her tongue over her teeth and felt her expression sour. “The internet is a cesspool, but it doesn’t mean their words have less credibility.” The aggression towards her, towards most of the city, had lowered and was only starting again now, cautiously. It had been nice to not fear her life at every turn.

“Lena,” Kara sighed, and her expression was a mixture that the CEO couldn’t quiet decipher. Anger, pity, strength, frustration, affection.

“I don’t think Reign is a threat anymore, Kara,” Lena said honestly, and wondered if she could somehow get her point across without telling Kara she sometimes had a Kryptonian WorldKiller in her guest bedroom.

“Lena!”

Lena lifted a hand to halt Kara’s outrage. “I’m serious, Kara,” she said gently, trying to get Kara to at least listen to her words and not start ranting about justice and Supergirl- she was very pro-Supergirl, which made sense seeing as she had passing connections to the hero, but she seemed to be very against Reign, more so than most.

“We haven’t heard from Reign in, what, a month? If she is still here then….. I think she’s just trying to find a home.” Lena shrugged and saw from Kara’s pursed lips and frown that she hadn’t convinced her friend.

“She’s killed people-“

“So have I,” Lena interrupted and Kara halted, and her expression was almost comedic. “I know it isn’t quite the same but… surely there are other aliens, other _people_ , who have hurt and killed and we offer them second chances. Why aren’t you willing to offer one to Reign? You, of all people? You see the best in everyone,” Lena smiled fondly at her friend. “Couldn’t there be some good in Reign?”

Kara was quiet a long while, brow furrowed and eyes conflicted. Lena’s phone rang and she huffed as she dug for it, missing the rest of Kara’s expression.

“I’m sorry, I really have to get back to work.”

Kara still didn’t look convinced by her words, and Lena checked her caller ID before, in a move that would have her both elated and almost nauseous, darting up to kiss Kara gently on the cheek.

“I’ll see you later,” she promised, feeling her cheeks heat and her heart summersault at her daring move.

Kara didn’t move and Lena had her phone up to her ear as she walked away, grateful for the distraction of the fact she had just kissed her best friend- on the cheek, and friends did that, right?

Her afternoon passed by in a flurry of calls and emails and words- so many words, until it was sunset and there was a startling noise coming from behind her.

Jumping she pressed a hand to her heart and spun around to see Reign standing on her balcony, and then she felt her heart try to leap from her body.

The WorldKiller was in her black motorcycle gear and had a squirming large body clutched to her chest. The material showed signs of a struggle, torn in places and absolutely shredded in other. The reason for it, of course, was the large paws, powerful front legs and shoulders of the animal in the WorldKiller’s arms. The coat was tawny, with patches of fur missing, obvious where it had struggled against Reign’s hold and a thick neck moved up to a round face with a short muzzle, resembling a large, very large, house cat.

“What-,” Lena paused and ran her tongue along the front of her teeth.

“Reign,” she asked patiently, feeling a headache at the base of her spine.

“Why have you brought me a…”she let out a breath as Reign’s dark lips  spit into a smile. It was slightly stilted a though the woman wasn’t familiar with the movement and it struck Lena that, that were the case and it slid from her face at Lena’s lack of response.

“Kitty?”

Hearing the WorldKiller say such a juvenile thing made Lena’s lip twitch but she fought down her amusement.

“That is a mountain lion,” she nodded, and the big cat yowled in fury and squirmed in the Kryptonian’s vice-like hold. It seemed resigned to its fate and Lena wondered just how it had struggled and how terrified it had been flying through the air.

Reign nodded. “You are worth more than the small creatures I have seen in the city.

Lena let out a long sigh. She needed a drink. Babysitting a Kryptonian World Destroyer was a lot more than it was cracked up to be.

She eyed her liquor cabinet as the cat let out a scream, and winced.

“Miss Luthor?!” A few moments later and Jess came bursting through the door and Lena decided that yes, five o’clock was a perfect time to start drinking.

The tablet in her loyal secretaries hold clattered to the floor as she stared across the room at the woman in torn motorcycle leathers holding onto a struggling Puma.

Jess had made good time, Lena noted as she strode over to the cabinet and poured herself a generous glass, and after glancing at Jess’ ashen features, poured her some as well. Perhaps she should give her a raise.

“Where did you get a Mountain Lion?” She asked, exasperated, and held out the whisky decanter to Jess. Jess hand trembled as she took it, and her eyes were wide on the mountain lion, held like a stuffed toy, in the arms of the woman who, not six weeks ago, had slaughtered her way through a jail.

“The yellow stoned park,” Reign replied happily, then she frowned a little. “Though I did not see any yellow stone.”

“You flew to Yellowstone National Park?!” Lena demanded in a strangled voice and Jess followed Lena’s lead, tilting her head back and downing the lot. Her tablet was still on the ground and Lena wondered just how quickly Jess had paralleled the woman in her office with a Puma with the one in a mask who had kept the cities criminals in their holes. Probably not long, Jess was very good at her job.

“It’s named after the river,” Lena commented after a long moment, calming her racing heart, and tossed her second glass back and savouring the burn as it warmed her from the inside. Should she have another one? Deciding against it, and leaving her glass on the tray, she spun back to Reign.

“Kitty?” Reign repeated, and loosened her hold on the beast.

“No!” Lena said and Reign halted, shoulders slumping and lips twisting. “Reign,” she said, and Jess let out a strangled gasp but when her eyes darted to her secretary Jess was schooling her features into polite interest, though she were still pale.

“Please do not let it go,” Lena said calmly and wet her lips.

“Why,” she asked slowly. “Did you bring me a mountain lion, of all things?”

Reign frowned. “I upset you. I had to rectify it. One of the offspring at the day-care brought his small feline to class and said it was to make his friend better. I brought you a big feline because you are a big human.”

Lena turned back to the decanter. Maybe she would have that drink.

She poured another glass, and silently offered Jess a refill, but her secretary shook her head and ducked down to retrieve her tablet. Lena shrugged, more for her, and swallowed the two fingers worth in one go.

Shivering she slowly turned back to the sheepish and… earnestly hopeful WorldKiller in her office.

“Take it back, please,” she said firmly and Reign’s face fell.

“But-“

“You’ve taken it from its home,” Lena explained gently. “Flown it across the country, and its probably terrified out of its mind.”

The cat let out another scream, and its eyes were wide and mouth open in a panicked pant.

“Please take it home, gently,” she emphasised. “You’ve terrified it.”

“I-“ Reign blinked and glanced down at the animal in her arms. “I did not intend for that. I only wanted to please you.”

Lena finally let out a smile. “ I know,” she nodded kindly, and for what it was worth she was sort of flattered. “But you’ve taken it from its home and scared it, unintentionally. Next time you want to get in my good books…Flowers work,” she said wryly. Reign nodded eagerly.

“I shall keep that in mind,” she said and then looked back at the animal in her arms. “I will return it now.”

She hadn’t taken the reprimand too harshly, and the tuffs of fur on the floor were all that remained of the strange encounter.

Jess came to hover at her shoulder. “Miss Luthor?”

Lena turned to look at her secretary, mind firing with options. Jess’ face was regaining colour but Lena could still see the thudding artery in her neck.

“As you know,” she decided eventually. “Reign approached me with the desire to be taught about humans.”

She glanced over to the window and the now absent WorldKiller. “It’s a work in progress.”

Jess was quiet for a long moment, clutching her tablet before her securely and Lena waited to hear what she had to say.

“Is she…” Jess hesitated and there were many words she could have finished with, but Lena decided to fill in the blanks herself.

“I don’t think so,” she said slowly. “So far she has shown no further indication of violence and has been remarkably patient and open to learning about humans since the first day. As far as I can tell, she has abandoned her quest for justice and is instead just… living and learning.”

Letting out a sigh she turned back to her secretary. “Time will tell, I guess.”

Tilting her head to the side she asked,” What do you intend to do with this information?”

Jess straightened. “My current NDA covers anything I learn in your office, Miss Luthor.” She waited a pause. “Will that be all?”

Lena let a slow and satisfied smile cross her face. Jess would certainly be getting a raise.

“No, Jess. That will be all. Thank you.”

Jess nodded, hand still white around her tablet, but professionalism held out and she took her leave from Lena’s office.

As the reality of the situation finally dawned on her Lena couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

Her WorldKiller was bringing her presents. Christ.

What would her mother and brother think? Letting out a loud chortle at the thought of their faces, she went back to work.

Wasn’t every day a Kryptonian WorldKiller decided to cheer you up by brining you a cat, and not just any cat, a _Mountain Lion_.

But, she considered as she returned to her emails, the logic made sense.

Small person, small cat. Big person, big cat.

Smiling to herself she buried herself in her work, unaware of the DEO surveillance van now relocated to the roof of Catco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit shorter than usual, but the next chapter should hopefully make up for it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo. Someone brought it to my attention that my 'Reign brings Lena Luthor a giant cat and calls it 'kitty'' is very similar to another SC/SRC story. i.... am not familiar with this fic, but I'd like to point out that the summary for this fic, the chapter that you were previously treated too, has been there since May last year. Any potential copying wasnt done by me. (#^_^#)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So,

 

Reign observed the children during their leisure time, noting with absent amusement, that they were returning to their game of standing on the beam and jumping off it, though admittedly with less numbers than before and with glances cast to the building behind them. The larger group was playing something about a Toy Tale, and one of the little leaders was crowing, ‘the’re a nake in my boot!’ While pointing a stick at another group, who had smeared dirt around their eyes. Reign was very confused by such proceedings and observed them with interest.

“What are you doing, earthling?” She enquired of them, usually their games were thrown together and made no sense, but this one seemed to have some form of structure to it, for humans.

“Yer my fav- fave- her deptuty!” The human said pointing at her and she looked down at him confused.

“Repeat yourself, offspring.”

This was accompanied by a round of giggles, but the children were used to her by now and liked to explain things. They liked to be the teacher for once.

“I’m ta sherf,” said the one with the stick, proudly pointing to a gold star on his shirt. “Yer my depty!”

He jabbed a grubby finger at the pack of children who were running around and were now playing a game of seeking the hidden ones, but they were not successful as they were easy to spot. “Tay ta bad guys.”

Reign followed his gaze and then looked back at him. “We gots ta cach tem.”

He gave an odd little roar and then ran off, brandishing his stick in the air and making bang noises.

Curiosity piqued, for here was a game of good and evil, Reign trailed him.

He darted around the playground on wobbly legs, fell several times in his pursuit of his criminals, but always got back up. He caught up to the first bad guy, a little boy with glasses and short brown hair.

‘You unda rest!” He proclaimed proudly when he tagged him, and then he looked to Reign.

“Take him ta jail, depty!”

Reign glanced between the two bemused. “Where is this jail?”

She was directed over to a box in the ground filled with sand and with great reluctance, she swooped down to pick the child up and carried him over to the box of sand. The child was crowing with delight and she deposited him in the sand and tried to shake his presence from her clothes.

“Kum on,” the sheriff, for she had realised that was what he was calling himself, “we gots ta ge dem all.”

It did not take long for all of the criminal children to be rounded up and delivered to the sand box jail, though those that were delivered made their escape many a time- clearly not understanding their punishment- and Reign was instructed to hunt them down and deliver them to justice.

At one point Reign enquired of the child, why he was taking them to jail. The child had been stumped, looking at her like she were an oddity, something he had never seen before and didn’t know how to answer the question.

“We good guys,” he settled on finally, face red and exhausted but smiling. “We take bad guys to da jail.”

Reign tilted her head. “Why not punish them?”

He blinked at her a long time, and Reign was wondering if she needed to lower her vocabulary, again. Being around Raozhium so much had allowed her to use her extensive lexicon but being with children simplified it ten-fold.

“Der in jail,” he settled on finally, features clearing, and then he was off to do something else and Reign watched him depart, feeling confused. The young human knew that jail was bad, it was the punishment for the criminals, and it left Reign feeling uncomfortable. If even the young knew that they sent the bad humans to jail, and that jail was the punishment, then maybe Raozhium was right and Reign was wrong. It certainly leant credence to her words, not that Lena had lied to her. Reign could hear her heartbeat, and knew if she were to lie she would notice immediately.

Thinking this through she returned to her position on the wooden structure called a fort, observing them around it.

The children had gone back to the jumping game, and Reign knew it would only be a matter of time before one of them got hurt. This time it wasn’t because of a fall, or rather, it was but not by accident.

Some of the children were enjoying themselves enough to cut ahead of the line, and that was when the discord happened.

Reign watched in interest as one of the other students, a bigger child who had been playing with trucks in the dirt, joined the game. He would jump off, and then clamber back up again, forcing the other small humans back.

There was complaining and a struggle and then a cry and then a scream. One of the children landed on the ground, and even Reign could see the angle was wrong.

Adults came running while the children howled, and some of them scattered.

Reign observed curiously as the children were rounded up and questioned while the hurt child was led away. A quick glance over its body assured Reign that there was no serious injury, maybe a twist of the ankle as it was pushed from the beam, but she was more interested in the scolding the other boy was getting.

“We don’t push other people, Xavier,” one of the older minders was scolding, and Reign was not affected by the voice but the children were, for they had that wary I-am-in-trouble look to their eyes.

“We share, remember,” she said and then she was taking a seat on the beam, talking up to the boy instead of down to him.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

It was with much mumbling and excuses before the woman had the entire story, and Reign had been amused by how the child had tried to lie but had been quickly caught and had the truth pulled from him.

“I know you wanted to play too, but there was a line. You can’t just push in, okay?”

Reign was then treated to a lesson on sharing, and that you needed to treat other people the way you would like to be treated. It was a common saying, and all of the children seemed to know what it meant, but Reign remained seated as its meaning quietly clicked into place in her mind.

The boy wanted to play, and had done so, but by doing it he had interrupted the order and fairness the others had. Xavier himself had even said he wouldn’t want someone to push in front of him and had seemed to learn the lesson as he was led away into the building for his punishment. He wouldn’t get to play anymore.

Reign pondered this, finally given a visual example, of one she had seen from start to finish, of what it meant to treat someone as you wanted to be treated.

Xavier had pushed the line, and then pushed the other children, he had been told he was wrong, but he had also been shown he was wrong, figuring it out for himself, before he had been led away.

Reign followed his progress, wondering what punishment he would receive for his actions.

To her surprise he had a quiet discussion with his teacher and was then led over to apologise to the first boy, who was sucking on a coloured sugar stick and getting his foot wrapped in fabric.

“You don’t have to forgive Xavier, Charles,” said Jamie, who was with the boy and wrapping the foot. “But I would like you to accept his apology.”

Charles sniffed and Reign could see the mutinous pout.

“It takes courage to own up to your mistakes,” the other teacher was telling Xavier. “You were brave in apologising, if you meant it.” Xavier nodded and Reign tilted her head.

Charles was looking to Jamie for guidance and she smiled at him and gave him a little nod.

“Is okay,” he mumbled and the teachers voiced their approval of the two boys but Xavier still had to be punished.

“You were very good apologising,” the older teach was telling Xavier as he was led over to a small, quiet corner of the room. “I want you to sit here and think about what happened, okay?”

“No,” the child was stubborn, Reign had to give him that, and his tantrum would have been met with strength had he tried that tone with her, however his teacher simply picked him up and placed him on the mat.

“Your behaviour was bad,” the teacher said and Reign was interested. She had said the behaviour was bad, not that the child was bad. “You need to sit here until I tell you to leave. Okay?”

“Noo!” The child whined and the old teacher’s voice sharpened with instruction.

“Your behaviour right now is disappointing me, Xavier. Be a good boy and sit quietly. Then you can go back and play.”

The muted grumblings the child remained where he was, and the teacher drifted off to see to other children, keeping her eye on the child in the time-out, and Reign returned her attention to herself.

How curious. The child knew he had done wrong, apologised for it, but didn’t want to be punished for it. This must be a human trait. Considering what she had discovered Reign missed the bell calling the children back into the building.

One of the smaller children, who had been playing with a toy truck in a pile of earth, was one of the last to answer the summons. She had wanted to play the jumping game but the group had said that she couldn’t and so she had sat and watched them from under the wooden structure.  None of the teachers had noticed, and Reign had added that incident into her book for Lena to explain. She was about to return inside when the girl marched up to the plank.

Curious, Reign watched her.

It took both arms and legs for her to get onto it, even though it was maybe two hand length’s high, and when she did she balanced terribly, sinking onto her haunches as she moved along to the edge.

Why the child didn’t just jump off the side of the wood Reign did not know, but curious, she walked over to it.

It stayed there a long moment hands clutched in to its belly, staring down at the gap.

“Jump?” Reign suggested, voice hoarse from disuse, wondering if that was what the child was trying to do.

Blue eyes darted to her and then looked back at the edge of the wood in front of her. Her hands were in little fists and Reign wondered where a human was to come and take the child away. It appeared to be broken.

An adult came for it soon enough and Reign wandered back inside with them. They were settling in for quiet time, or for a nap, and during these moments Reign would turn her attention to the elementary school next door and listen to their lessens. Their day was much more interesting and several times Reign had listened as children were disciplined and their games were banned. She didn’t get the reason for it, but found the lessens more interesting, and their interactions had more substance, less guarded by adults. There was one child, a prickly one, who was interested in starting fights and Reign had overheard some of the teachers sighing and talking about its home life.

In this particular instance, she turned her vision in, searching for the child. It was of nine or so years, and was, by most teachers accounts, a difficult child. Prone to angry outbursts and lack of respect, it didn’t learn and stole food from the other younglings. It always wore long clothes and kept to itself most days.

Reign felt an odd sense of familiarity with it, alone as it was, surrounded by people who didn’t want it.

She tried to search for it in the usual classrooms and straightened when she couldn’t locate it.

Eyes narrowing she carefully looked past the coloured cubbies of the kindergarten, along the grass, and into the school buildings.

Ah. There it was. In the school infirmary.

She tilted her head. Normally its injuries, or the injuries it gave to others, didn’t require tending, so she was curious, curious enough to listen in on the two teacher’s quietly arguing outside the room.

“-have to tell the authorities.”

“We don’t know for sure,” said the other one. “Every time he just says he falls off his bike, or trips down the stairs. We have no proof. He’s to terrified to even mention his father.”

The two argued a little more, and Reign, drawn into the conversation, exited the kindergarten and wandered along the boundary fence, listening and looking in as one of the Raozhium entered to speak with the boy.

She sat on the bed near the curled-up figure and lifted a hand as though to place it on the boy and thought better of it.

“Mathew,” she said softly, and Reign leant against the corner fence, eyes on the school. “Are you-“ she hesitated and let out a long sigh. “He isn’t going to stop,” she said gently and Reign straightened. “You have to tell us and we can get you out of there, you and your sisters.”

A sniff and then a determined voice croaked out, “I fell off my bike.”

“Again?” The teacher enquired gently, patiently as though she had done so before. “It was the stairs last time. When will you run out of excuses?

The boy merely sniffed and its breathing was accelerated. “Yeah. I fell off my bike.”

There was a long silence and then the teacher let out a sigh. “I’m not supposed to give you any of this,” she said, rising to her feet and walking over to the wall cabinet and opening it with a key and Reign’s eyes narrowed. The Raozhium was about to sin to a child?

The fencing strained as she started to walk through it before she remembered her situation and she shook her head as she carefully puled the wire back in to place, ears and eyes on the teacher and student.

“This will help with the pain.” Reign hesitated and watched as the teacher offered a white capsule to the boy with a glass of water.

He accepted them both, guzzling them gratefully and Reign blinked. The teacher was sinning to help?

Bemused she settled back against the fence, more aware of her strength, and kept listening.

“If he hits you again, please, Mathew,” the teachers voice was low and pleading. “Tell someone. Anyone who will listen. I can talk to the police if you cant. We can get you and your sisters away from him, where he cant hurt you again.”

“I fell off my bike, Miss,” the child snarled, with more anger than a small human had right to have, and pushed passed the teacher on the way out.

The expression on the teachers face was a curious mix, one Reign couldn’t figure out. She was sad, angry, hopeless.

The interactions between the child and adult lingered on Reign’s mind as the day progressed, and she didn’t register the children now starting to draw things for their parents.

She was trying to work things out.

The boy had been injured, and the adults suspected his father, though they didn’t have any proof. The boy said he had fallen from his bike, a suspicious answer seeing as the adults had already mentioned it as an excuse. So where was the lie? Then there was the teacher admitting that she was about to do something wrong, to sin, but it had been to help, and the boy had clearly been thankful for it.

“What is in the white capsules that are given to children,” Reign blinked back to herself and asked of the adult near her. It was Jamie, the woman-child that Reign had first been introduced to.

“The-what?” She asked, rubbing her nose and leaving red sparkles on it.

“With water, a white capsule, this big,” Reign held her first finger and thumb apart, “to help.”

“Oh!” The furrow to Jamie’s brow lifted. “Pills. Painkillers, most likely, why?”

So the Raozhium had sinned to give a child a killer of pain, which indicated that the child had been hurt. Reign was slowly putting it together.

“Why would the police take a child from their father?” Reign enquired of Jamie again.

Brown eyes narrowed and the woman bristled. “Kids get taken away from abusive family’s all the time,” her voice was suspicious and aggressive, but not, Reign realised, at her, but at someone unknown.

“What do you know?” Her voice was a dangerous rumble and it surprised Reign enough to examine the girl-woman and give her an answer.

“There is a child at the school who has been injured. The raoz-teacher,” she corrected, “gave him the killer of pain and told him to tell her if he did it again. The child insists he fell from a bike.”

Fists clenched and jaw tightened Jamie glanced at the wall as though she could stare through it and Reign observed the change with curiosity.

“Sounds like an abused kid,” Jamie said stiffly, nostrils flaring, and Reign was struck with curiosity.

“Abusing is a sin,” she informed Jamie and the woman looked at her curiously, suspicious again. “Why has the sinner not been punished?”

A hand covered in red and gold sparkles ran though short hair and Jamie let out a sigh.

Her shoulders slumped. “We have to have evidence, proof, that he’s doing it. The kid has to confess, or someone has to see it or something. Otherwise the police can’t do anything, let alone get him away from his kids.”

“So, they do nothing?” Reign mused, mostly to herself. Here was a sin, and a sinner who had not been punished, who couldn’t be punished.

“Nothing we can do,” Jamie was looking at her arm now, and Reign had not noticed but it had puckered bits of skin, pale and shiny against the smooth olive tone. Scars, Lena had told her when she had enquired about Lena’s own.

Reign looked through the building again, tracking the boy, Mathew, as he slunk his way through the halls and to his next class. He sat oddly in his chair, body tilted at an unusual angle, hidden more-so by his clothing, and went unnoticed at the back of the classroom.

“Sometimes,” Jamie said and paused. “Sometimes I wish there was someone like Supergirl back when I was a kid, ya know?”

Reign did not know and gave the human her attention.

Jamie rubbed her arm and didn’t speak any further, but Reign thought she understood.

Lena was able to elaborate a little on it that night, frowning at what Reign relayed to her and ending up sad. She promised to mention it to the police, but as she had no proof, there was little she could do about it, little the justice system could do about it.

Reign watched a children’s movie that night about a big man who wrecked everything and had more questions than answers, but didn’t know how to voice them, so she wrote what had happened down in her book and resolved to talk about it with Lena the next night.

Lena was an incredible human, Reign was learning. She was driven in her purpose, worked longer hours than most of the humans she employed, which was right, the leader should be the best of the people, but Reign did sometimes wish she didn’t fall asleep on the couch while Reign was asking her things. She couldn’t learn if Lena was asleep.

The next day she was still thinking about the abused boy and wondering if she would see him. It wasn’t a need of hers to see him, but she was curious as to why he was not reporting this sin and making sure the sinner faced justice. He was sinning by lying about it as well, but it wasn’t worth the same. Sinning was not good, but lying about a sin wasn’t good either.

Sin was a curious thing, Reign mused as she sat cross-legged on the mat with the children as they watched a movie,  masked people with powers who fought crime. It was one Reign hadn’t seen before and she was more interested than she would like.

There was a battle and Reign watched it curiously. “Why doesn’t he kill him?” Reign asked, mostly to herself, as the man with the explosives and accent was defeated without being killed.

The disapproving glare from the adults didn’t phase Reign in the slightest and it was one of the boys who answered. “Because he’s good. He’s a hero!”

“But he gets away,” Reign frowned. “Wouldn’t it be easier to make sure he can never hurt anyone again?”

The children shook their heads at her, as though she were the child and they were the adult.

“No, silly. The good guys put the bad guys in jail.”

Another explanation was, “he’s a hero, he can’t kill people. Only bad people hurt people.”

Reign was addressed with a sharp voice and turned her head curiously. ‘Regina! That is not appropriate for five-year olds.”

Reign ignored him and returned to her thoughts. Bad people hurt other people, and good people helped and saved people, even if they were bad. The movies she had seen were clear on that, so was that what good people did?

Did that make Reign bad for killing the sinners? But then they shouldn’t have sinned in the first place. They hurt people, so Reign hurt, well, killed, them. It was fair, wasn’t it?

“What about Supergirl?” Reign asked, curious as to how these small humans looked upon the alien in their city.

To her surprise they broke into smiles, television forgotten, as they babbled about their hero.

Most of it was about her flying and super strength but some of it was about how she helped people. One of the people had someone on their street helped and the way they recalled the story, chest puffing with pride, made Reign feel odd.

The teachers quickly interjected about heroes and who they wanted to be and why these people were their heroes, and it was an enlightening afternoon for the WorldKiller, sitting among children as they proclaimed they wanted to help people, and it hit her then, that these children untainted by the world as they were, wanted power. But they wanted to help people. They wanted to rescue people from fires, fight a dragon, be police officers. They wanted to serve the people, to be protectors and helpers. None of them, not one, wanted any sort of power for themselves.

It was an oddly humbling experience.

That turned into an activity of writing down what hero they wanted to be, or what traits they’d like to have.

“Do you have a hero?”

Suddenly Reign went still, and she glanced down at the child sitting next to her, eyes wide and earnest.

A chorus of ‘yeah! Who’s your hero?’ sounded and Reign glanced around the hopeful, shining faces suddenly feeling lost.

“I- I don’t know? I don’t have one?”

The children seemed horrified by this and Reign was confused by it.

“You got to have someone,” said the child next to her and Reign blinked.

“I don’t know many people.”

Jamie gently interrupted, “remember, children, you don’t have to have powers to be a hero,” she said sweetly. “Think of Mr David’s, you met him last week, remember? He is the National City Fire Chief. He helps people every day, is he a hero?”

There was some thought to this, heated debate, before the children decided that yes, he was a hero.

The conversation came back to Reign again.

“So, who do you know that helps people?”

Reign hesitated. The only person she knew was Lena, and that was because she had appointed the woman as Raozhium and the woman had gone along with it. She was not blind to the fact that Lena would betray her if she could, and that the woman was only doing it so that Reign wouldn’t kill people, but she had been patient and kind and gentle with Reign, more so than she perhaps needed to.

“I might know one?” She hedged slowly, and the children looked to her eagerly.

Helpless in the light of their faces she continued. “She- I- I met Lena Luthor once?”

There was a moments pause and a sharp gasp from Jamie, and Reign listened to the way her heartbeat thudded in her chest and when her eyes rose to look at the human, it had gone pale.

Reign tilted her head.

“Who’s that?” Asked one of the children, brow furrowed deeply in thought.

Jamie took a long moment to answer, staring as she was at Reign, and one of the children had to tap her leg to get her attention.

It took her a few seconds to realise she was being addressed and even more until she answered.

“Um,” she swallowed nervously and Reign watched the movement, instinct telling her that the human had realised who she was, or at least suspected. What an intelligent human, though Reign had not hidden herself well.

“Lena is one of National City’s leading scientists and philanthropists, she’s, um, she works with Supergirl, and has saved her once.”

Immediately the children decided Lena must be a hero and soon they lost interest and were going to play.

Reign remained seated on the carpet, mulling over the fact that Lena was a hero while also keeping an eye on Jamie.

She hadn’t moved and had started to sweat through her t-shirt.

“Are you ill?” Reign asked, tilting her head. “You have gone pale, your breathing is fast, and you are excreting water at an above average rate.”

Jamie’s heart tripped over itself.

“You’re Reign,” she said quietly, voice tremoring, though there was some doubt to it.

Reign debated agreeing or disagreeing, and decided she would like to see this play out. Would the human report her to the authorities?

She had not been active in little over a month, and people speculated she had vanished, though Supergirl had warned that may not be the case. People were moving on, and crime was slowly creeping back into National City. Her makers were urging her, when she was alone and in the dark, to reclaim her duty and cleanse sin from earth, but then she would see Lena in the morning on the way to the kindergarten, and the voices would go quiet as Lena answered any more questions she had.

She did not have to answer as one of the human young approached her and grabbed at her clothing. Jamie nearly fell of her chair as she hurriedly stood, but Reign merely followed the child and rose to her feet to let herself be guided away.

“I am here to learn,” Reign said to Jamie and turned her back on the woman, ending the conversation.  She would have to inform Raozhium that the human suspected about her. Lena would be disappointed but it couldn’t be helped. Reign didn’t want to hide like vermin, she was Reign, designed to rule, though she had turned to learning. She could not hide, but she could not be caught, there was still so much to learn. How, then, would she learn if she never saw the light? Then she realised. Raozhium was her light.


	12. Chapter 12

“You _are_ Reign aren’t you,” said Jamie as Reign straddled her motorbike and opened the straps of her helmet. Reign ignored her, perhaps she would grow tired and go away, or even better, perhaps she would realise this conversation could be detrimental to her health and would run away.

“You’re an alien, you came in with Lena Luthor, you talk about sinners and punishment and kill-“ Jamie shook her head, and Reign lowered her helmet onto her head, still not sparing the human a glance.

“I don’t know how I didn’t see it before,” Jamie was musing, mostly to herself.

“What do you want, human,” Reign said, tightening the straps as Lena had asked of her. She didn’t want to give anyone else any reason to look twice at her.

“That boy-“ Jamie said quickly, and Reign finally gave her the attention she was after. Her heart was thudding and her pupils were dilated, but there was determination to them.

“Can you-“ she wet her lips, and she was shaking a little, Reign noted.

“Is there a way you can confirm his father is beating him?”

Jamie’s heart was beating out a frantic pounding, a war drum in Reign’s ears, and she flipped the visor of the helmet up.

“Are you asking me to sin, human?” She enquired with a dangerous rumble and was rewarded with Jamie’s skin paling and she swallowed.

“No. I-“ She cleared her throat and Reign took in her tense stance, fists clenched.

“Can you confirm he is being abused?” There was strength to her tone, not steel, maybe, iron? A  protective quality that piqued Reign’s interest.

“Yes,” Reign replied, interested to see where this was going.

Jamie nodded and her lip had gone pale beneath her teeth where they were biting it.

Eventually, with a gush of air she said, “I ran away when I was sixteen. I had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. He had my siblings. He-“ she cut herself off, voice choking and Reign could see tears, though of rage or sorrow or pain Reign couldn’t tell. Humans cried over all sorts of things.

“Supergirl has done abuse talks in schools,” she changed her direction and Reign was feeling a step behind. What was the human getting at?

“If I had known someone like her was around back then I-“

The human was clutching her arms around her, and Reign’s eyes were drawn to the small circular scars on them. It was then that Reign had a revelation.

“You were sinned against.”

It wasn’t a question but Jamie nodded anyway, trembling more now, a weak leaf in the wind.

“We are taught,” she said pointing behind her at the teaching buildings, “to look out for signs in kids, to get them to trust us, to get them to talk. But no kid wants to talk. Not to a teacher, and not when they have to go home, not when their siblings are in the same boat.”

“I do not know of this boat but if it is a boat of sin then I am interested,” Reign informed the human, now very curious as to what this human wanted from her.

Jamie’s gave a half snort laugh, which was far more charming on Raozhium.

“No, It’s a-never mind. We can’t lie to you, can we?”

The human was jumping from subject to subject. Reign tilted her head. “No. You cannot.”

“Good,” said Jamie firmly and then to Reign’s surprise she stepped closer, arms falling back to her sides and forming fists. “I want you to find out the truth, and then I want you to punish the sinner.”

Reign felt something in her flare.

“Do not presume to tell me what to do, human,” she cautioned softly, voice a low growl.

Jamie, to her surprise, looked angry instead of scared.

“Isn’t that what you’re here for? To punish sinners?”

She jabbed a hand behind her at the school and to the potentially abused boy in it. “Well you’ve found one.”

Now Reign was very curious. A teacher of little humans was asking for punishment, asking for Reign’s justice.

“What of your justice?”

A hallow laugh was her answer. “I wanted him dead. He deserved it,” she spat. “But I ran instead and left him with my brothers and sisters.” Reign gathered she was speaking of her abuser.

She shook her head fiercely, and Reign could taste the metallic tang of blood on the back of her tongue.

“So you ask this boy if he is being abused, and then you go and punish the sinner.”

Reign looked at her curiously for a long while.

“What of Supergirl?” She asked, wondering why this woman who taught justice and peace and fairness, and all of the good traits of humanity, wanted Reign’s justice and not Supergirl’s.

“Supergirl isn’t here,” Jamie’s voice was low and dark.

Reign met her eyes a moment before pulling her visor down and starting her motorbike, ending the conversation, but she thought about it as she road down the driveway and out of the gate. She considered it as she drove past the school and towards the city.

Supergirl wasn’t here. And Supergirl didn’t punish. But, Reign considered as the school bell sounded and announced the end of the day, Reign was here, and Reign punished. It was her purpose. So maybe she should.

Raozhium wouldn’t like it but… a sin was a sin and a sinner needed to be punished.

She considered it for a long moment, tossing the decision over in her mind for a long while, as she returned to her apartment. Her motorcycle was locked up automatically and she took the stairs to her apartment without being aware of her path.

Two parts of her were at war.

Did she go against her programming, her essence, when she knew there was sin, had been asked to find sin, or did she stick with what Raozhium had taught her? She didn’t want to disappoint Lena, but the longer she sat and simmered the louder the voices of her makers got, until it took everything she had to drown them out.

Reign didn’t sleep at all that night, and when morning came she flew to Lena’s apartment.

She had made a decision.

The sky was turning to colour, a palate of orange and red and purple and she glanced down at the street, catching sight of a familiar white van.

Sneering she zoomed down to it, taking a moment to change her face using Raozhium’s tight necklace.

Lena had informed her, after she had alighted on her balcony a month a go, that she was under surveillance. She was always under surveillance by both private citizens and organisations, but now that the DEO, who were the people that worked with Supergirl, knew Reign and Lena had some connection, they would be monitoring her too. Lena had warned Reign to keep an eye out for them.

Reign had noticed them quickly, and on the few occasions she had gone to see Lena while using her powers, she had removed them from the area. They suspected her of the relocation, Reign could hear them shouting about it after she had dropped them back on the CATCO roof, but the evidence they had was circumstantial. She hadn’t had her photo taken just yet.

Laughing to herself she shot back across the sky, flying high and fast before dropping back down to Lena.

Raozhium was already up, and Reign landed on the balcony before letting herself in.

Lena was in the kitchen, smoothie at her lips, clothing ready for the day, and she faltered when she saw Reign.

“Reign?”

Reign zeroed in on her suit in the guestroom and got dressed before Lena could move a single step and then she reappeared across the bench.

“What are you doing?” There was warning there, in Lena’s voice, and reproach, but also a gentle plea and Reign hesitated.

“I-“ Reign didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what she was about to do.

Lena lowered her smoothie as she came around the bench.

“Hey? What happened? Talk to me?” Her voice was gentle, eyes kind, and her touch was soft as she rested her arm on Reign’s suit.

She could almost feel the heat of it through the fabric, and wished for a brief moment, that she had delayed in retrieving her suit and then shook the foolish thought away.

“I have found a sinner,” Reign informed Lena softly and noted her accelerating heart-rate.

“Don’t go,” she said, hand firm. “Don’t kill them.”

“I-“ Reign looked down at Lena’s hand and then darted up to Lena’s eyes. But she was unable to hold them for long, they were bright and green and glowing in the morning light, and she had to turn away.

As she did her eye-sight landed on Lena’s fridge and she froze. Her artwork was on Lena’s refrigerator.

“My art,” she said, brain screeching to a halt.

Lena followed her gaze and smiled wryly.

“I like it.”

That was. Well. That was something.

“It reminds me of you.”

There was a flutter in her chest. How strange. Was she becoming ill? Was it something the children gave her?

“There is a child being sinned upon by his father.”

Lena sighed and rana hand through her hair, Reign liked it down. “Reign…. You’ve made so much progress. Don’t do this. We have to have proof, or a confession.”

Reign titled her head. She was aware that Lena knew she was under surveillance by the black clad agents that worked with Supergirl, it had been Lena who warned Reign of them, not that Reign wouldn’t have noticed them. Would she betray her? Would she go and tell them?

She wouldn’t have much time. Though she was aided by the fact that Lena did not know the child or sinner Reign was interested in.

“I…” her eyes darted to the art work on the fridge, the pride of place. Lena was proud of her. “I will not kill him,” she settled on, and shifted back, surprised by her own words. “I will let your justice see to him.”

A confused smile was frozen on Lena’s face. “Then why the-“ she gestured up and down to Reign’s suit, and Reign took a moment to remove the face modifier as she had her mask on.

“I will make him confess,” Reign promised, tucking the device into her suit and vanishing before Lena was even able to register her words.

“Reign, wait! Reign! You can’t just make someone confess! That isn’t how it works!” Lena tried to protest, but Reign turned her attention from

The wind tugged playfully at her cape as Reign soared above the city, and she blitzed into the sky, hoping to get a head-start on Supergirl. They did not know who she was after, truthfully Reign did not either, but there was one person who knew for sure, who knew the truth. She just had to find him.

She spent a long time enjoying the sun and the wind, for while the sun didn’t energise her like it did the other Kryptonian, it was still a wonderful feeling. Hovering above the school she waited for her prey to arrive.

Mathew slunk down the sidewalk, white cords from his ears and backpack hanging over one shoulder. Though Reign did not know why he brought one. He didn’t do any school work and did not bring food.

A quick glance over his body revealed fresh bruises and Reign plummeted to the earth.

She made sure she would not cause any damage, Raozhium had made it clear how she felt about unnecessary damages, and they had broth criticised the El’s for their lack of consideration. Reign had enjoyed that.

“Human offspring,” she demanded as she slowed several human lengths above the ground and then slowly lowered herself to the earth.

She heard the screams and cries her presence had caused and knew soon Supergirl would come to find her. But Reign hoped to not be here when she did. Lena had told her she didn’t want her to fight, and Reign didn’t really want a fight. She had bested the fly blue and red bug several times now, and saw no need for a repeat.

Mathew froze upon seeing her, eyes wide and he flinched back but his spine straightened, even as it trembled.

“Y-eah?” He demanded, trying to be tough and Reign rolled her eyes. She could taste his fear, hear it in his heart.

“Are you being abused?” She demanded, keeping an eye and ear on him, waiting for confirmation of what she already knew. He had lied to his teachers, but he couldn’t lie to her.

“Wh-what?” He swallowed with a squeak. His heart rate was stammering in his chest.

Reign sighed. Even the kindergarteners could follow her speech patterns.

“Abuse,” she intoned. “To case pain or harm, to mistreat, to be cruel or violent. To be neglectful or exploit. Sin.”

She could hear his knees knocking together. “N-no.”

Even a human could have spotted the lie.

“Does your sire sin upon you? I am here to help.’

Understanding was obvious in brown eyes, one turning purple around it and she wondered what excuse he had come to school with prepared to use.

“What are you gonna do to him?” Mathew asked after a long moment, and his fists were clenched.

“That is for you to decide,” Reign informed him. “Raozhium was requested I no longer kill, but I will make an exception if you wish.”

“What about my siblings? He’ll…he’ll hurt them.” He asked after a long moment, and Reign tilted her head. What was it with the concern for the young that even the young had? What were these bonds that were so strong that some would stay and risk harm than leave?

“I was informed that you humans will remove abused young from households if there is proof.”

Mathew glanced around him, taking in the piled-up cars, wide-eyed parents, and horrified teachers emerging from the school. One of the teachers in the lead was the same Raozhium who had tended to Mathew the day before.

Curious.

Returning back to the boy she asked him what punishment he would like delivered upon his sire.

In the distance Reign heard a sonic boom and sneered.

“Time is of the essence, offspring. Make a decision.”

“I want him to hurt,” Mathew said suddenly, voice quivering with rage. “I want him to hurt like he hurt me!”

Reign grinned. “I shall lift you now, earthling,” she warned and promptly tossed the boy over her shoulder.

He let out a muffled yell and Reign paused, turning her head to try to see him.

“Human?”

“Ow, ow, ow, ow,” the boy groaned and Reign deposited him back on the footpath.

He was clutching his sides, white as a sheet and Reign blinked.

“I apologise. I did not consider your injuries. I will not do so again.”

The approaching Kryptonian was getting closer and Reign hesitated a moment before lifting the child into her arms. It would get more of his filth on her, but she was pressed for time and didn’t wish to cause him pain.

“No! Wait!” Shouted one of his teachers, and she had lost her shoes somewhere in her sprint down the driveway.

Reign lifted as swiftly into the air as she dared and a brief glance downward told her the boy had his eyes wide open.

“Where is your father?”

He gave her directions and she sped off in the direction of his house.

“Be a badass,” he demanded as they got closer and Reign started to lower them gently to the ground. Normally such orders would make her bristle, but she was invested in this situation and wanted to see how it played out so she agreed.

Children, she had learnt from the day care, were naturally caring and helpful and kind. But they were also selfish and could be cruel. It was interesting to see one so young already prone to violence and she wondered if he had not been educated properly.

She had learnt, through the television, that being a badass was something to be admired, and she rather liked the thought. She wanted to make an entrance, and what better way to get the humans attention. They had been quiet while she had been learning, now they would know she was still here.

The concrete of his driveway crumbled beneath her form, and sounded like a hundred gun shots at once.

She lowered her arms to let the boy slide free and he strode towards the door, back rigid but lost its strength the closer he got, and by the sound of the yelling from inside.

Reign stepped up behind him and he couldn’t go back any further as the door was yanked open and a man with the roaring of a bull fell abruptly silent.

Reign grinned, even as the boy before her trembled.

“Boy! What have you done?!” There was fear in his voice, sweat breaking out at the top of his balding crown and his face was ruddy, though it may have been because of the alcohol Reign could smell wafting off him.

“It is not what he has done,” Reign said calmly, roving her eyes over him and then lifting them up into the house. There was a child there, young, younger than Mathew, and a quick x-ray revealed bruises and fractures. Reign catalogued them all.

“It is what you have done,” Reign took a step forward, forcing the boy forward and he was curling back into her and Reign felt rage lick at her insides. She was a well known murderer, according to these people, yet a child was more afraid of his father than of her. It was… there was a thick, heavy feeling in her stomach.

“I’d like to speak with you about sin.”

Bleary eyes blinked at her and Reign tilted her head. “May I come in or would you prefer we have our discussion out here?”

He gapped at her and she looked down at the boy.

“Boy. What justice shall I deliver upon him?”

The father shook his head with increasing speed, backing away slowly as the reality of the situation dawned on him.

“Kill him,” the boy spat and Reign hesitated.

“I am afraid I cannot. I have made a previous vow to not do so. Can you select a less permanent justice?”

The boy had clearly found his strength again, maybe bolstered by the vengeful god at his back, or how his father had been reduced to a cowering mess.

“I want him to hurt.” There was anger in his voice, pain too, but there was also fear.

Reign grinned and glided into the house, delighting in how the sinner trembled in her presence and ran from her. Fear was thick on their air, layering the alcohol and sweat and unwashed scents.

“Sinner, there is no place to hide,” and she stalked him through the house, aware of him scrambling up the stairs and digging for something in a closet.

A glance upward told her it was a gun.

“You humans and your guns,” she commented as she stepped into the room and he had a shot gun with red bullets sprawled on the bed as he tried to load it.

“Stay back!” He demanded, and his body was shaking and he was sweating profusely.

Bang!

Reign glanced down at her shirt and watched with faint amusement as the crushed bullet, which appeared to be eaten by the skull on her crest, tumbled to the ground.

“You missed,” she commented dryly and then she struck.

Human bodies were books of the lives of the people who had lived them. Where they lived, how they ate, what their environment was like, and how they got hurt. Even healed injures stood out like chapter numbers and judging by both the boy and the girl upstairs, not to mention another child she had yet to see, these particular books hadn’t been loved.

The neighbours would later report that once the WorldKiller entered the house, approximately two minutes later a gun went off, and then the screaming started.

Reign didn’t kill him, nor did she break every bone in his body, she merely punished him the way he had beaten his children, down to the exact fractured pinkie fingers and shattered collars. Then she picked him up, carried him over her shoulder and walked him out the front door. He was unconscious by the time she delivered him to the jail, and by then the closest precinct was aware of her presence in their district, how could they not?

The school was aware of her kidnapping, and she had created a crater in the driveway as she had landed. Not to mention Mathew’s father had shot at her, and then she had helped him fall. Repeatedly.

She marched into the building, by passing horrified civilians and terrified police officers until she stood in the middle of the bulletin.

There she dropped her meat sack of sin on the floor. He lay in a crumpled heap before Reign launched him upright.

Grasping his shoulder until the pain roused him from unconsciousness she addressed the room, ignoring the guns on her.

“This man has a confession to make,” she informed them coolly and their shouts and demands went silent.

“Don’t you,” she directed to the piece of human filth before her.

His lip was bloody and his body was trembling but he stammered out his confession, to two dozen officers and a half dozen civilians.

“I- I’d like to c-confess,” he rasped and wheezed. “I beat my children.”

There were angry murmurs, hisses, but the Captain’s eyes were narrowed.

“How were you injured,” he demanded, arms crossed and glaring at the WorldKiller.

Reign squeezed just a little tighter, and with a pained groan he cried out, “Fell! Down the stairs! Fell down the stairs.”

Reign released him and he fell in a messy puddle at her feet. She appeared at the side of the closest officer and casually wiped her hand on his uniform as he froze.

“Ironic that, that is the same excuse your son uses, don’t you think? Or was it a bike?”

She took a moment to glance around the room and then spun and was out the door and into the sky before anyone could comment.

Satisfied, and feeling power thrumming through her veins, Reign glanced up at the sun. Perhaps she wasn’t here to Reign, but she could enact justice all the same.

“Reign!”

Her good mood vanishing Reign turned to face the irksome pest that was Supergirl.

The Daughter of El looked angry, self-righteous in all her glory and Reign let out a sigh.

“What is it you want?” She asked it of her in English, not giving her that satisfaction of speaking in her mother tongue. It was cruel, but Reign was not in the mood to be kind to her part-time-enemy.

Supergirl hesitated, hovering in the air and Reign rolled her eyes and moved off.

The Super shot round in front of her and Reign halted, feeling her ire rise.

“Remove yourself from my path, pest,” she growled, letting her eyes heat. Supergirl’s eyes glowed and Reign smiled.

If it was a fight she was after, a fight she would get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little short, but eh :D


	13. Chapter 13

“This is absolutely ridiculous,” Kara snarled as she was finally released from the medical bay. Sand was still falling of her suit as though she were some kind of sea creature and she scowled at the feeling of sand in places sand ought not be. It would take her ages to get it from her hair, and she didn’t envy the DEO drycleaners.

“Kara,” Alex sighed and addressed her tablet.

“No, Alex,” Kara snapped back. “You aren’t arresting Lena.”

“There is evidence, Kara!” Alex cried and shoved the tablet in Kara’s face. Kara didn’t need to see the so called evidence that Alex had found.

“You’ve been stalking her for weeks, Alex! What right do you have to do that?”

Alex ran her hand through her now short hair. “She and Reign have a connection! You said it yourself!”

“That was weeks ago! She didn’t have a choice! If she doesn’t do what Reign wants, who knows what Reign will do to her?”

“Look, Kara! Look!”

Reluctantly Kara turned her furious gaze down to the tablet, to the woman in black, standing on Lena’s balcony with the woman in front of her, arm out furiously.

The photo was taken from a distance, and only their off-world technology allowed it to be less blurry than it should have been.

 Still. It was telling.

The WorldKiller looked like she was getting thoroughly told off.

“We don’t know anything for sure, Alex,” Kara sighed, ignoring how her body still ached from the beating she had received.

She had been writing an article for snapper when the call had come in, Reign had kidnapped a child.

Heart racing she had torn from CATCO and launched herself across the city to the location. However she was too late, and she was bombarded by screaming parents and crying children.

It took her a moment to learn what had happened, and she had Alex and Winn in her ear the entire time.

“Supergirl!”

The speaker was a teacher from the school, Kara later learnt, and she told Supergirl that Reign had dropped down, spoken with one of her students, and then picked him up.

He had started to cry, then and Reign had dropped him, before picking him up in her arms instead of slinging him over her shoulder.

“What child? What’s his name?”

In her ear she could hear Winn bringing up the National City residence database.

“Mathew. Mathew Myres.”

Winn started typing immediately, perhaps hacking the school’s data base as well to cross-reference the information.

“Why would Reign take him?” Kara demanded, partially to herself, but also to anyone who would listen. The WorldKiller was a punisher of sin. What could she possibly want with a child?

She saw the hesitance on the teachers face, heard the uptick of her heart and Kara’s head snapped around.

“What,” she demanded lowly, “would Reign want with Mathew.”

The teacher winced and swallowed. ‘We suspect he’s being abused but CPS has cleared it.”

‘Supergirl! I have the address!’

“On it!” Kara said and launched herself into the sky, shooting across it in a desperate bid to halt whatever it was that was probably happening.

A thousand scenarios were flashing through her mind, each more violent and bloody than the last. Why had Reign just appeared out of nowhere? Where had she been hiding? And why did she appear, so soon after she had spoken to Lena?

Winn was relaying police reports, school notes, of suspected abuse but there was no concrete evidence and the man, Killian, had got off. The evidence was circumstance, and no one was saying anything else, so the children had stayed.

Kara felt a flicker of satisfaction that Reign would be going after such a sinner, and then felt a bit sick by it. No one deserved to die.

It had been a while since she had fought with Reign, and she was hoping her time with J’onn in the training room had prepared her for facing an opponent, who, frankly, out powered her.

She didn’t like to admit it, but she was anxious about the fight. On one hand, Reign hadn’t been seen in a little over a month, but on the other; Reign was a mass murderer, not by her own code, but still.

Her version of justice went against everything Kara believed in. You couldn’t just kill people, she and Kal didn’t. Justice seekers were meant to protect the peace, obey the law, be a good citizen. Reign wasn’t justice. Kara was and Reign needed to be brought to justice. Kara’s justice. A cell.

When Kara arrived in the neighbourhood, to sirens and scouting civilians, there was a giant crater in a driveway and Kara knew she was in the right place.

There were shouts and screams, whispered awe of her arrival and she landed gently, as though trying to prove a point to the Kryptonian who had recently shown up. This was how a true Kryptonian did it.

There were officers already on the scene, and an ambulance on its way, and there was who looked like a neighbour wrapping a blanket around two children.

One was younger, a girl, and she was crying, but the other was an older boy, arms crossed defensively as he addressed a police officer.

A quick scan of the building revealed it empty.

“Reign’s gone.”

She listened a moment, then gave her attention to the officer approaching her.

“Supergirl!” He was a little pale but professionalism held out.

“Reign brought a boy here, spent a moment outside, and then entered the house. Neighbours tell me that shortly after a gun shot, the screaming started. We recovered a shot-gun. She took a man, a white male, forty to fifty. We haven’t seen her since.”

Kara heard the precinct over the radio in the patrol car.

“ _Urgent;  10-52, Precinct 24. Victim is a white male, visible lacerations and suspected broken bones. Reign delivered him_.”

Kara was in the air before anyone could comment further and blitzed across the sky towards the precinct.

“ _Be careful, Supergirl_ ,” Alex commented in her ear and she fought down her eye-roll. “ _We’re rolling out a team for support.”_

Though she appreciated it, she wasn’t sure what help the DEO would be, if Reign can take Kara, then the humans stand no chance.

Using her vision and hearing she was able to catch the end of Reign’s speech, ‘Ironic that that is the same excuse your son uses, don’t you think? Or was it a bike?’

Fury caught low and hot in her belly at the implications, and from what Winn was repeating, or listing out-loud, and the list wasn’t short. CPS had attempted to build a case but they hadn’t been able to confirm anything.

A black blur in front of her revealed Reign and her heart raced.

“Reign!” She shouted as she got closer and saw the World-Killer slowly turn.

“What is it you want?”

Kara halted and hesitated.

She wanted Reign to turn herself in. She wanted her city to be safe. She wanted the people she cared about safe. She wanted Lena safe. She’d have thought it was obvious but in the moment Reign asked, she wasn’t sure.

In her ear she was aware that Alex and Winn and the DEO were talking and they were warning her to take the fight away from the civilians, as though Kara didn’t already know.

Reign turned away, a sneer curling dark lips and Kara lashed through the air to get in front of her. “Remove yourself from my path, pest!”

Reign pulled back and her eyes flashed red, burning with promise.

Kara tensed and prepared herself for a fight.

Reign smiled.

“Very well, Daughter of El,” she said in that clear and cold way she spoke.

“Raozhium-“ Kara felt her heart lurch at the use of Kryptonese and then it fell with her next words-“ has requested I refrain from causing unnecessary damage. Might we take this battle elsewhere?”

Kara nearly dropped from the sky.

‘ _Wait, what?!_ ’ Winn in her ear was confused.

‘ _Does this mean she is still seeing Lena_?’ Alex sounded angry.

‘ _Get Miss Luthor’s surveillance team in here, right now_!’ That was J’onn and Kara almost winced at how his voice echoed like thunder.

Kara turned away from the shouting in her ear and gave Reign her full attention.

The WorldKiller had her head tilted, and beneath the black mask Kara thought she saw an eyebrow lift.

Then she was off, flying past her in the direction of the sea, and Kara faltered a moment before shooting after her.

They weren’t...fighting…exactly, they were…. It was one of the oddest things Kara had ever done.

Flying behind her enemy, slowly being left in the dust, on the way to have a battle out somewhere no one could get hurt, all because Lena had asked it?

As they flew, and it took less than three minutes to get across town and to the beach, the DEO was in her ear, redirecting their teams to the beach and getting in touch with the police and informing them of the titan duel about to go down.

Reign hovered above the beach, at a secluded part of it, stony and hard to access. Still. There were a group of dune-bikes in the area.

Kara pushed herself faster, desperate to get to them before Reign, only…only the WorldKiller hovered above them, and Kara didn’t even have to use her hearing to hear Reign’s order for them to leave. She punctuated it with a burst of heat vision that had Kara scrambling to get in the way, only the trajectory was off, and it blackened the earth in front of the vehicles in warning, leaving a steaming valley with little shards of black glass.

The sand plumes of the dune-buggies faded and Reign watched them go with interest. Kara could hear the approaching helicopters and the SUV’s announcing her back-up, but they were still a distance away.

“The humans come up with fascinating ways to explore leisure.” Reign’s comment was unusual, it was almost like she was attempting to engage in small talk.

Finally Kara found her voice, this new-Reign was throwing her off balance. She was used to Reign proclaiming she was the harbinger of justice and eager for a fight, to prove a point or just because she could, Kara wasn’t sure.

“They come up with lots of amazing and incredible things,” Supergirl said proudly.

Reign said nothing further and looked back at Supergirl.

“We are now in a location with no infrastructure and humans. Shall we engage in combat?”

Kara waited a moment, listening for advice in her ears.

The DEO needed her to stall Reign, or at least keep her occupied until they arrived with new Kryptonite prototypes to bring her down and contain her.

“You could come quietly,” she informed the WorldKiller hovering in the air opposite her.

Reign shook her head, and her voice was almost condescending as she replied, “I have no desire to be thrown in a little black box to be dissected and experimented on with the key thrown away.”

Kara swallowed. While she couldn’t speak for how the DEO used to treat their prisoners, she knew that, at the very least, some tests would be run on Reign, if she were ever captured. They needed to figure out a way to contain and even kill her kind on the off-chance that more WorldKiller’s showed up.  Reign had been in the wrong, but Kara could understand her desire to not turn herself over to that sort of fate.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Kara tried, once more trying to see if she could somehow get through to Reign.

“Yes. It does,” Reign replied, voice cold and controlled. Her eyes lit up again, in warning, and Kara could only brace herself for the incoming attack, but it didn’t come. Instead Reign just hovered, ready to engage, but not making the first move.

Kara remained tense until the roar of a DEO truck emerged over the sandbanks and fired a missile at Reign.

 It hit her, and she was sent reeling backward, and then all hell broke loose.

Reign tore through the vehicles before Kara could catch her, and the two intertwined in their clash, fists pounding, knees bending, feet kicking until a sand storm surrounded them, and coated the beach.

The DEO agents were shouting and scrambling and Kara tuned them out, she had someone bigger to deal with.

Reign wasn’t holding back her punches and Kara felt a brief thrill of excitement at the challenge, at how her body vibrated at finally having some sort of challenge. She responded in kind.

From the moment she had landed on earth, when her powers kicked in and she had power she had never dreamed of, she had to hold back. Always holding back. In a way, privately, she envied Reign.

Villain she may be, but Reign had freedom to do as she would, when she wanted and she had no fear. Not like Kara. Kara had to tread carefully, couldn’t get angry or sad or want to get even. She had to constantly ignore the vitriol spat at her, the distrust and hatred. She had to be better. And it was exhausting. All day. Every day. She did envy Reign for that. For her freedom.

They exchanged blows strong enough to bring a freight-train to a halt, to shatter the very earth itself, to split mountains, to break the impenetrable. Reign knew how to fight, that much was obvious from their previous encounters, but she wondered how Reign had been taught. The DEO had looked at prior footage, trying to pin a combat style in order to try to combat it, but so far they were out of luck. Reign’s tutorage was a mixture of many disciplines and it was as though she had combined them, taking the weaknesses of some and rewriting them with the strengths of others. Even if she were brought down to human levels she‘d be a formidable opponent.

Supergirl’s instructions were to restrain Reign for as long as possible to allow the DEO to fire off their new prototype at her. It was some sort of electromagnetic force, a gravity well of sorts, that would hopefully bring the WorldKiller down. It worked on both J’onn and Kara, so they hoped it would work on Reign.

Kara just had to get her in one place for long enough.

She did not succeed. Reign did not go down easily, and she didn’t allow the DEO any time to even fire a shot at her. When she was done with Supergirl, and the sand the two had kicked up lingered on the air like a harsh mist, and Supergirl was beaten into a crater, she stood over her, head tilted to the side, and then she just up and left.

Kara was woozy and disoriented, with sand all over her, and she happily let the DEO carry her into a helicopter and back to base. She drifted in and out of consciousness, aware of the bad beating she had taken, but aware that it could have been much worse. If anything Reign had shown…restraint in the beating she had given Supergirl. And she had quietly left and, according to Alex the moment she sped into the med-bay in a whirlwind of energy, had gone straight to Lena Luthor.

“We don’t know what Reign is doing with Lena,” Kara protested, brought back to present time and shaking some more sand out of her cape.

“But she is going to Miss Luthor,” Winn said and he showed her two videos. They were one of the DEO surveillance teams, and they both showed a blur of shadow and then they were on the roof of Catco. Both times Reign was too fast for the cameras to pick up on, but it was clear, through process of elimination and circumstantial evidence, that Reign had been the one to move them.

“Yeah,” Kara pointed out. “And Lena doesn’t look happy.”

The latest video, where there was proof of Reign and Lena interacting, Lena was stepping into the WorldKiller, hand up and though they couldn’t see her finger raised in warning, it was obvious from her body language that she was thoroughly telling Reign off.

Kara was absolutely terrified for Lena, and half of her was ready to launch herself across the sky to make sure she was okay.

But… on the blurry video Reign was lowering her head, ducking away, backing off and looking like a kicked puppy and Kara felt her jaw drop. A few moments later and the WorldKiller was gone, leaving Lena alone on her balcony.

“The only proof we have is this video,” J’onn rumbled and Kara frowned at him.

“So Reign goes to visit Lena and we arrest her? No!”

Alex groaned. “We have no other leads about Reign, and visible proof that Reign has some sort of…thing… with Lena!”

Kara shook her head vehemently. “She said she didn’t know where Reign was.”

“Did she actually say that? Did she actually tell you that she had no idea where Reign was? What did she actually say?”

Kara paused part way through her rebuttal and gave it some thought. “N-no,” she blinked hard. Lena hadn’t actually said anything about where Reign had been. In fact… Lena had sort of avoided the question. She had said that Reign hadn’t been seen, and she’d also said that Reign was just… looking for a place to fit in, that she wasn’t a threat.

Alex tossed her hands in the air. “We should at least go and talk to her.”

“How are you going to know about Reign seeing her unless you admit you’ve had her under surveillance and then have her lawyer, what was his name, Michael, no that isn’t right-uh…”

“Mathias,” Winn supplied Kara helpfully.

“Thanks,” Kara nodded to Winn. “He’ll gut us!”

“We are a covert government agency,” Alex protested. “We don’t have red tape.”

Support oddly came from Winn. “You don’t want to go to war with Lena Luthor, especially not if she somehow has Reign under her- is she like, under her command or something? I don’t know, but what happens if Reign finds out Lena has been threatened?”

“Whatever control Reign is giving to Lena, it is willing,” J’onn interrupted, “and Supergirl is right. We have certain power as a covert Black Ops organisation, but Miss Luthor has an army of expensive and likely bored lawyers in her employ. We need to remain a secret organisation, making a move on Lena Luthor, while she appears to have some sort of sway over Reign, is not a wise tactical move.”

He glanced at Winn. “What is the report back from the hospital about Reign’s victim? What of CPS?”

Winn typed away for a few moments and then the information was brought up on the huge command centre monitors. “From what the police can tell Reign bet him pretty bad, but-“ he clicked a few more times. “His kids were also taken to hospital and their breaks are exactly the same.”

Kara felt a shiver run down her spine, seeing picture set after picture set of broken bones paired with a smaller skeleton. She felt sick.

There were a few moments of pause while that information sunk in.

“So Reign learns the guy has been beating his kids and-what-beats him the same way?”

Winn’s words were met with silence.

“That’s actually….poetic?”

“Winn!”

Winn shrugged. “Alex, I’m not saying the guy deserved it but-“ he gave another shrug. “She didn’t kill him and he confessed.”

“Under duress,” Alex pointed out.

Winn shrugged again. “Sure. But is he gonna confess to that while Reign is over his shoulder? You know it. I know it. But no jury is gonna find him not guilty when he is that adamant he hasn’t been coerced. Unless he talks, it can’t be proven.” Winn hesitated a moment. “I’m not gonna protect him from Reign, are you?” He glanced back at the broken arm on screen, with another x-ray of healed breaks on the other, “He deserves to rot in jail.”

Alex worried her bottom lip, eyes narrowed and then turned back to J’onn. “Do we go and see Lena Luthor, or not? We could say we are just following up on it, especially after Reign and Kara’s fight is public knowledge?”

J’onn let out a long breath. “We’ll go and see her tomorrow,” he said slowly. “We have no proof of her doing anything to Reign, or that she can even control Reign, apart from the video footage, and we aren’t about to admit to that.”

Kara shot Alex a smug look. “So, can I go now?”

Alex rolled her eyes. “Get out of here.”

Kara grinned and whipped her phone from her boot as she flew away.

 _‘Hey Lena! Haven’t seen you for a while! Pizza?_ ’ She punctuated it with her usual emoji’s

National City was shrouded in clouded, the stars blurry, and she could taste the rain the NC Weather had promised was on its way.

Her phone vibrated as she was setting down in front of a pizza parlour when Lena replied. _‘It’s ten pm, Kara.’_

A moment later another reply came in, and Kara didn’t look up from her phone as she entered the little family run store, and so didn’t see the startled looks of the other patrons until she was at the counter.

‘ _I’m leaving work now. I’ll be home in fifteen. Can you get me a Margareta pizza please?_ ’

Grinning she thumbed out a response consisting of food emojis and many thumbs-up.

‘ _I’ll see you soon_.’

Kara looked up from her phone and beamed at the young boy manning the counter. She heard his heart stutter but ignored it.

“Hi! Can I please have one small Margareta pizza and-ooooooh, you have a Super Special!” She quickly scanned the pizza and felt her cheeks pull wider. It had double servings of everything and was a thirty dollar pizza. “Awesome! I’ll have four of those!”

The employees were used to her popping in and out, and so were used to her massive order, but the other customers clearly did not, and she could see a not-subtle attempt at taking a picture.

She waited a fair time for her pizza, but they made the best pizza in the city, so the wait was worth it. To pass the time she took selfies with a few of the guests and then scrolled her Supergirl Social media, carefully picking one of the many photos she had stored on her phone and uploading it. Her social media was very popular, but it was mostly photos of the skyline, the stars, and the people she met out on the field. She was pretty sure she had taken a selfie with every rescue worker in the city, but she liked the ones with the other random people she met while she was out and about. The girl she had taken her last photo with had a lovely big fluffy dog and Kara just had to go and cuddle it. Their photo was adorable, and the likes and shares rolled in.

She tucked her cell into the compartment built into her boot, and took the wad of cash from the other. Supergirl couldn’t exactly use a card, and sometimes it was just nice to go and buy something fresh, rather than going to the DEO or changing into her Kara persona and getting food then. Plus no one looked at her in disgust when she was Supergirl, Kara Danvers was always eyed sceptically when she ate as much as she did while pretending to be a human. Lena was the only one, who didn’t know her secret, who just accepted that Kara just had to eat more than most people. She likely thought it was some sort of metabolism deficiency, but Lena just went along with it, bringing extra food when she visited, or offering to cover their meals when they were out. It was sweet and was one of the reason Kara loved her so much. She was thoughtful and kind and genuinely sweet and she deserved all of the good things.

Paying- because she and the proprietors had that conversation many times and knew her stance on paying for her food, though they had insisted on giving her a discount-she quickly gathered all of her pizza’s, even strapping them down so they didn’t fly off while she flew, she flew towards Lena’s penthouse.

She ducked into an alley-way nearby, taking a moment to change into the clothes she had left in dumpster and rubbish bag and making a mental note to make sure she washed them soon, she was striding through the lobby, signing in with security, and entering the elevator. The heat of the pizza was warm on her palms as she lifted the boxes easily and she knew she was grinning like a fool- she had pizza and was about to go and see Lena!

She turned her ears upward and heard the steady thumping of Lena’s heart and turned her head away, pushing her glasses up her nose.

Soon she was being buzzed into the apartment, with a warm smile, and Kara nearly dropped her pizza’s.  Lena’s hair was down, and Kara absolutely loved it when it was down. It was long and looked soft to the touch and it made Lena look soft and young and just… so pretty.

“Kara,” Lena opened the door further, smile soft and warm, and Kara loved that she got to see Lena like this. No make-up, no heels, no thousand-dollar outfits, just wearing a soft grey sweatshirt and maroon shorts, which….. showed off far too much of her legs.

They were long and toned and walking away from her and Kara jerked her head up, feeling her face heat.

She kicked the door shut behind her, leaning the pizza boxes against the door to set the security before following Lena into the kitchen.

Lena’s kitchen sat to the right when you entered the apartment, though you had to walk down a hall to get there, and from there it spread out into an open living area with a couch, television, and fireplace.

Her private rooms were off the other hallway, beyond the kitchen and there was a guest room, bathroom and shower, Lena’s own room and bathroom, as well as a little laboratory and her own computer.

Lena was at the pantry, lifting up for the glasses at the top, and her shirt rose to expose some skin which, for some reason, Kara couldn’t tear her eyes off.

“How has your day been?” Lena asked as she lowered back onto her heels and spun around to face Kara with a smile and Kara tore her eyes up and swallowed.

“G-ood, been good,” she said and placed the pizza on the counter. It was a bit too late for pizza, probably, but Lena had asked for it so that was probably okay. “Just been following up on a fight Reign and Supergirl had today.” She pressed her glasses up her nose and gave a little shrug, eyes watching as Lena hesitated and kept going.

“Yes. I heard about that,” Lena said, handing Kara a plate and taking her own set of knife and fork. Kara didn’t have any, but Lena offered her a set of napkins like usual and Kara took them with a grin.

“What happened?” She asked, and if Kara hadn’t been looking for the slight hitch in her voice, courtesy of Alex’s paranoia, she would have missed it, or passed it off as some other concern, but Kara felt her heart trip and then fall as she caught it.  Lena’s pitch had shifted, ever so slightly, as she had asked the question, and so had her heart beat. It was nothing more than a whisper, but Kara was a Kryptonian and heard it and she wondered if Alex had been right all along. Was Lena working with Reign?

She immediately struck the thought from her mind. This was Lena! Lena wasn’t a bad person, there was no way that someone so kind-hearted and genuinely good natured as Lena would work with Reign. So there had to be some other explanation. Surely there had to be? Suddenly she wasn’t hungry anymore.

“Um, well, Reign kidnapped a child and then attacked his father. When I-Supergirl caught up with her they flew to the beach and had a fight.” Kara sniffed at her pizza, and her stomach growled its approval and she sighed before taking a bite.

“That doesn’t sound like Reign to kidnap a child,” Lena said and there was a slight undercurrent of anger to her tone, Kara able to catch it because she was listening for it.

Kara hesitated. She knew all the details because of her other job, but a lot of witness’ had been interviewed and the story was already out there. Reign found an abused child, took him home and then beat his father the exact same way the children had been beaten before delivering him to the police. The media had, of course, torn the medical reports apart, and CPS was being thrown under the bus, even though their investigators had come up with nothing concrete.

“No, she was…” Kara thought about it, hesitating in her answer. Reign hadn’t hurt anyone, or at least no one that really mattered. Kara had seen some of the reports from CPS, and from the hospital, and had wanted to hurt the father herself, so had a lot of the public, but still. Reign had almost shown compassion for the boy, and had then said she didn’t want to cause any unnecessary damage.

She had also not engaged in combat until she had been attacked, which had been a surprise for Kara.

Lena’s words came back to her as Lena sat at her bar stool, taking a sip of her wine and then delicately cutting her pizza, ‘ _I don’t think Reign’s a threat anymore_ ,’ and wondered if maybe, maybe Lena were right. Reign had, by her own odd sense of justice, done right with the abused boy and his father, she hadn’t killed him and had only hurt him the way he had hurt the people he was meant to protect. It was…. A justice she had seen before, vigilante for sure, but…. Oliver had done similar things, and the heroes in the multi-verse were more liberal with their sense of what justice meant but… Reign’s justice was not Kara’s justice, and Kara’s justice was the right justice, the true justice. Justice.

“She found a boy being abused and then took him back to his father. She then beat his father and took him to the police. She…thought she was doing the right thing but…”

Lena took a piece of pizza on her fork and examined it idly, “You can’t just go around beating people up, even if you think they deserve it.”

Kara blinked and nodded. That she had to agree with. That was, like, the definition of vigilante justice. She choose to ignore what her friends were doing at night and proclaiming to be heroes.

“Still…. I’d say its an improvement over murder,” Lena took the bite of pizza into her mouth and chewed slowly.

Kara ducked her head into her shoulder in acknowledgement. She couldn’t argue with that either, even though the DEO was still screaming for Reign’s capture and imprisonment.

“They still want to capture her though,” Kara hedged, taking a big bite of her pizza, appetite returning with the delicious smell of pizza.

“She needs to be brought to justice.”

“Mh,” Lena hummed and took another sip of the wine. “I would follow that trial with interest, if it ever went to trial.”

“Of course it would go to trial,” Kara protested and Lena arched a brow in a agree-to-disagree movement and Kara pouted.

“So, um, how’ve you-“ her eyes caught a picture on the silver refrigerator and she paused. It was of a skull, with roses behind it, and was frosted with red glitter. It looked so unlike anything Lena had showed a taste for and it looked… hand-made, not that other art wasn’t but this one was… like…something Eliza would stick to the fridge when Kara and Alex came home from school.

Lena followed her gaze and her heart did an odd twirl but she didn’t comment.

“I’ve been good,” Lena offered, smiling softly, gently, as she said it. “Work has been… not quiet but it has been manageable. I’ve missed you though.”

Kara turned her attention from the odd art work on the fridge and beamed back at Lena.

“I missed you too,” she pressed her glasses further up her nose and hid her face behind a piece of pizza.

Lena was smiling softly, warmly, gently, at her and it made her heart cart-wheel but she ignored the feeling. Her stupid crush would fade with time, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend and I frequently discuss things of morality and ethics and combining them with power and.... I am not a good person to give ultimate power to. Not because I wouldn't help people, I would, but I would also punish them... and well, the line between tyranny and justice is a fine one. 
> 
> Still, this is the line Reign is currently toe-ing. No one is being punished, people are still huritng other people and getting away with it, but Lena densest want her to punish people anymore, but she is going against everything she is. There.... will be conflict over it later. Humanity has is dark periods of history, 1940's anyone? (hint hint)
> 
> I dont think SG and the WorldKiller will ever make peace, but... I think Kara Zor El and Regin may come to terms with each other, besides, it isnt as though Reign is making people commit crimes and hurt others. 
> 
> Enjoy all
> 
> P.S- keep a look out for my next fic. I thought it would be a one-shot (ha!) of, maybe, a few k (ha!) but now I'm 30k in and well, its awesome! Lena (Athena), Crown Princess of Atlantis, anyone? ;D


	14. Chapter 14

Kara let out a growl as she sped through the rain towards the mountains. The promised downpour had been swift, dark, angry clouds rolling down from the mountains and spreading across the city right down to the ocean. It seemed as though it had been raining 24/7 all week, though there had been patches where no rain had fallen, nature had clearly wanted to make up for it and had increased its intensity. National City Council had issued a flood warning and had suggested citizens drive and dress to the conditions, and prepare their homes for a flood.

Today the rain had lessened, though it was still a pain, and the rivers and drains were swollen and bloated.

The Alpine Rail Line through the mountain flanking the city had issued an emergency alert ten minutes ago, claiming they had lost contact with one of their trains. The information had made its way to Supergirl and she had been called out to trace the train line and see what had happened, and provide help if she could. The NCPD had also been inundated with frantic, panicked phone calls saying that the train had come off the tracks, though reports were hazy.

There was a whirl of a helicopter ahead of her and she glanced over it, CATCO, before flying next to it and offering a wave to the amusement of the staff inside.

She blitzed ahead and started at a point that Winn had indicated the train had passed half an hour ago, and told her to start there and make her way back through the mountain.

She covered the ground fast, wind whipping her hair and rain lashing her face. As the rain steadied off she was able to clearly report what she could see. There were dark patches of earth, small land slides through the valleys and dirt piled over the tracks in many places, and she reported that back to the DEO to pass on to Alpine Rail. The tracks wouldn’t be safe until the earth was removed, and their integrity was assured. There was a cracking in the distance, the groaning of earth, and then another bit of earth slid away. Kara winced.

She sped along the track, tracing it through the valley and had a brief thought that it would be a very pleasant journey, on  fine day.

‘ _Supergirl_.’

She tapped her comms and hovered in the air a moment. The rain was a sluggish fall now, almost a mist, and it clung to her clothing and she knew it would be cold if she were capable of feeling the temperature.

“Go, Winn.”

‘ _CATCO is reporting that the train is under a massive land-slide,_ ’ and Kara’s heart went cold. Winn gave her their location and she left a tunnel of wind and rain behind her as she blitzed up into the sky and shot off towards the location, a few kilometres ahead of her on the track.

In her ear Winn was reporting what he knew, or what he could see from the CATCO helicopter footage.

She was upon the scene shortly and when she did she had to pause for a moment in horror.

The Cross Alpine Rail Scenic Route was a seven hour scenic journey that passed farmland and mountainous, hills and ended up at the sea. Most of the twelve carriages were buried under earth, rock, and foliage… and were hanging over the side of a ravine.

She let out a curse.

The CATCO helicopter was hovering in the air, and she could hear the reporter announcing she was on scene and she ignored them. She had people to help save.

A quick scan of the length of the train showed that at least seven carriages were smothered beneath tones of mud and water and foliage, and she could hear the screaming, muffled though it was, as she got closer. The carriages at each end, the train itself buckled off the track, were twisted off the rails, and Kara could hear the connections between each train groaning with the strain.

She darted a glance at the ravine below her, the angry and muddy brown river a long way down, deceptive in its slow and twisting curl down to the sea.

Somehow the train was stuck to the tracks, and the bridge it had crossed was buckled and bent but still holding, holding back tonnes and tonnes of train, metal and mud.

It was not a positive prognosis.

She quickly explained the situation, wanting some sort of guidance as she had never delt with something like this before. At each end, passengers were out and were huddled together, and some had started trying to dig at the mass of trees and mud, trying to reach their fellow travellers. Her heart warmed for a brief moment- this, this was what humanity was when under pressure. Kind and selfless. Good. They deserved saving.

‘ _Supergirl_ ,’ Winn relayed. ‘ _Get the people to safety. Emergency responders are already on their way and a Park Ranger is on route_.’

Kara nodded and darted down to the people, it was what she normally did but she would have liked a bit more help. It made sense- rescue the people already mostly out of danger first, she could guarantee the rescue and it freed her up to work more.

Usually she would ask for permission to man-handle people, but she was pressed for time. She zipped between the civilians and slung as many as she could carry over her shoulders before blitzing to a position half a kilometre away. It was a plain near the river, and while the bloated river would be dangerous if they got too close, they were out in a field and away from the cliff face and any potential land-slide.

As she flew back and forth she could hear the grumbling and groaning of the mountain around her, and hear more landslides in the distance. The very air around her vibrated with it and trees were groaning and creaking, and rocks were rolling down the cliff face. All around her she could hear water, even as the rain finally, finally, let up.

She managed to get a few dozen to safety before the whirl of more helicopters approached.

She idly wondered where J’onn was, she could use his help.

Scanning along the train, through the mud and twisted barriers of the bridge, she decided to clear some of the weight and trees. Maybe she could break apart openings in the carriages and fly people out that way. It was messy work, and she had to tread carefully incase she breached the integrity of the mud and carriage and bridge, where they all combined in a mass of straining, leaking, power. They were defying gravity, so far.

Zipping back to the train she tried to asses where she should start next when the groaning started again, building into a roar, and she felt the hair at the back of her neck raise in horror.

“No,” she whispered as, high above the train where the first part of the landslide had split away, the earth began to tremble and groan.

She zipped forward to the train, where she pressed through mud and sunk her hands into the metal carriage.

Above her it sounded as though the entire cliff face was breaking apart and she could already feel and hear bits of it slipping away. She was idly reminded of going to the beach, when  the dunes were smooth until disturbed, and then would slip away, creating a gash in the front of the sand, until more and more grains would slip to wall the bottom of the dune.

The air grumbled and vibrated as, with a roar, the cliffside rolled down the hill, gaining more traction as it came.

She braced herself for impact, wondering what more she could do when several carriages were bundled together pressed against the bowed steel of the bridge by tones of rubble and mud.

The metallic groaning of steel sounded and with a screech the bridge broke away and Kara was treated to the sound of it clashing with rock as it tumbled to the ground.

Like an up-turned hour-glass mud and tree and rubble fled the spot, water gushing through the hole and creating an even larger one.

“Argh!” Kara cried as the weight intensified and she could feel the metal beneath her hands buckle before her hands went through it.

Swearing she pulled them out and tried to use her freeze breath on the space in front of her, maybe she could solidify it enough for her to manage it.

She wasn’t successful, as she was part way though freezing the mud there was another groan, loud screaming, and then a set of carriages were forced out into the air, dangling above the ravine as earth and gravity pressed down on it.

It was almost comical, how the carriages were hovering in the air, connected to each other by bent and straining metal, and she could hear the cries and screaming and the prayers for help. She even heard ‘Supergirl’ several times along with various gods.

Abandoning her idea she blitzed to the carriages as they began to push out into the air, the metal screeching as water and mud slid down around it.

She sunk her hands into the one closest to her, treated with a panicked face staring at her through a cracked window and a muddy smear. She tried to smile hopefully but wasn’t sure she succeeded.

There was a creaking whine and the carriage next to her bent free from its confines and slid further out and into the ravine.

People started to scream even louder as they were held at a 120 degree angle, face first to a several hundred foot plummet.

As Kara relaxed her hold on the carriage in front of her it slid several inches forward and she had to resume her pressure. Another scan of the mess in front of her revealed a mass of carriages all piled up and joined to the one she was holding. She was at the forefront, if she held this carriage she could likely keep the rest of them contained. Her problem was from the one to her left. It hung part way of the rails, the metal sparking and muted as water rushed around it, but the carriages before it were more stable, only catching the edge of the slip and they looked fairly stable, the bridge holding strong, even though it knelt to the weight.

“Alex,” she cried out. “I can’t hold them both. Where is J’onn?”

‘ _He’s coming, Supergirl_ ,’ Alex replied quickly and Kara felt a moment of relief before it was overshadowed.

“What do I do?”

The rest of the bridge was buckling under the pressure, the foundations dug deep into the earth splitting it, like a wedge, from the pressure of tonnes of mud and tree and rock pressed against it.

She didn’t have time for a response.

With a final tear, one that made her grit her teeth, the carriage next to her plummeted to the ground.

She briefly considered diving after it, but if she relaxed her hold on this carriage, the others would follow the first, and she couldn’t risk it, even as her heart broke. She could hear the CATCO reporter saying how it was an impossible decision as they reported what was happening, but that didn’t make Kara feel any better for the terrified screams of the people about to, probably, die.

A boom in the distance caught her attention, a snap of a cape and the scream of something swift and strong barrelling through the air. She nearly sobbed in relief as she heard the figure blitz through the air and down towards the fallen carriage. J’onn was here, she didn’t have to make that decision, she didn’t have to live with the decision.

The screaming stopped, suddenly, though Kara could hear the bodies thumping about, and the cries of pain.

Crying metal got closer and she turned her head over her shoulder with a relieved smile, “J’onn.”

“You dropped this,” dark eyes met her own and Kara froze.

“Reign.”

The WorldKiller held the carriage easily on one arm, like some sort of lumberjack with a log over his shoulder and Kara felt her jaw fall open.

Around her she could hear the surprise in the voices of the people now peering out of the windows, but also in the CATCO helicopter.

There was silence in her comms.

The WorldKiller lifted the carriage a few feet before lowing it, and the people inside startled. “Where do you want it?”

Kara blinked for a long moment and it took another rumble from above to remind her of her situation.

“Um, over by the civilians,” she jerked her head around, still entirely bemused by the other Kryptonian’s presence.

Reign flew off, not as slowly as Kara would like for the fragile humans in the metal can she was carrying, but she had arrived and was _helping_.

Kara nearly fell from the sky in shock. What was going on?

‘ _J’onn is nearly there_ ,’ Alex said in disbelief. ‘ _What’s Reign doing there_?’

“I don’t know,” Kara snarked. “I’ll ask.”

Reign didn’t return directly, instead she floated by the helicopter and, Kara heard a _knock_ , of all things.

There was a conversation she couldn’t hear over the shouting and pleading from around her, and then the helicopter was moving.

A few moments later and Reign was hovering nearby, eyes intent on the railing and bridge before she was zooming off.

“Hey!” Kara cried out, wondering where her unexpected help was going and what she was doing.

There was a tearing, and screeching, and then Reign was flying back with… oh, with train tracks.

Only Kara was able to keep up with speed in which Reign moved, but later the media would slow the movement down so that the people could see Reign driving the steel into the bank, and wrapping other bits of track around them until it formed a makshift basket, perched on the side of the cliff.

When she was done, and there were many helicopters around them, sending down people to help dig the carriages out, she hovered next to Supergirl.

“You may release the carriage now,” Reign said, and Kara hesitantly eased the pressure. The carriage groaned and slid a fraction before coming to rest against the steel that Reign had driven deep into the rock, and the bent metal she had heated with her vision and lazered together.

The WorldKiller looked oddly pleased with herself, dark lips curled a little at the edges.

Kara, deciding to not look a gifted mule in the mouth, ignored the queries in her ear about Reign, and began digging the civilians out.

Reign hovered for a moment, head turned to the side, before nodding once and then zipping away.

Kara heard the same tearing and lazer vision firing and wondered what Reign was doing.

Mud flew away from her as she dug into the pile.

Soon Reign returned and Kara blinked the mud and dirt from her eyes. Huh?

She could hear the CATCO reporter stutter a moment before chuckling as Reign flew through the air with, well, a giant poop-scoop, fashioned out of railway track.

She had torn more track up and flattened it in sections, melting them together and bending them into shape. It was crude but it worked.

Reign moved quickly, digging into the mud and tossing it over her shoulder, and maybe the NC Environmental Protection Agency would have a problem with the mud and debris she was sending down into the river, but really, it was going to happen anyway.

Kara stopped back to watch a moment and was joined by J’onn.

“Thoughts?” She asked him as she watched the determined way in which Reign worked.

Expression was hard to detect on Martian faces, but she could see he was surprised.

“We’ll discuss it when the people are rescued, maybe she will stick around for us to speak to.”

Kara nodded in agreement, and zoomed up to the first carriage Reign had unearthed.

J’onn made sure it was free of the other carriage and Kara gently lifted it from the ground, easing it from the rest of the landslide while Reign moved down to the next carriage.

And so it went, the human rescuers delegated to watch as the three gods dug the remaining carriages out.

It took them maybe half an hour to clear the carriages, and Emergency Vehicles were already making their trek across the National Park tracks, maintained for fishing, and camping, to the growing pile of survivors and carriages.

Kara settled the final carriage down and wrenched the door open, using her vision to make sure no one was too badly hurt, before helping to escort the shaky legged survivors out.

J’onn was flying the most injured to hospital and Reign was, well, she hadn’t actually seen Reign since she had driven the crudely-made shovel into the ground as Kara had picked the last carriage up.

They were crying and walking like new-born foals, and a pregnant woman was half carried out by her husband, with a toddler, wide-eyed and with tear streaks, clutching his other side. Kara quickly went to help.

The woman was covered in dirt and mud and filth, like most of the survivors, and there were a few cuts on her body, likely from glass. Her husband was in worse shape, bleeding from his head, but his eyes were only for his wife and child. The little one had fared well, obviously having been protected by her parents when the accident happened.

Kara used her vision to scan them, just in case, as they were the youngest on the train and the most vulnerable.

“I can’t see any internal bleeding or damage,” she said quietly to the mother and she sagged in relief. “But you should probably go to hospital to be check out. I can fly you there soon, if you want?”

No,” her voice was shaky but gained strength. “No, thank you Supergirl. Take them first,” she inclined her head in the direction of a group of people laid on the ground with medic’s looking over them. They were the badly wounded, or at least the ones with bad visual damage.

A few had bones broken, Kara had been able to see, and others had some serious blunt force trauma, probably from rolling around inside the carriage.

She nodded sharply in approval and strode over to the medics. The first CATCO helicopter had been replaced by a second one, and three from other news stations, and there were vans making their way down the track along with emergency personal.

As she walked past the survivors, all clutched together and supporting each other, she dimly heard the toddler start crying. It wasn’t anything unusual, so she left it in favour of approaching the first responder.

“Hello, Brian,” she said with a weary smile and the medic lifted his eyes to nod at her.

“Supergirl. This one needs immediate surgery, can you fly him to hospital?”

“Of course,” she nodded and bent down to retrieve him when there was a thud and the noise slowly dimmed, as though someone had turned the volume dial.

Reign had returned.

“I found this small wolf,” she said, holding up a shivering ball of well, mud. “To whom does it belong?”

There was a joyful cry and then the toddler from before, or maybe she wasn’t a toddler, a small child certainly, was running over to Reign.

The parents gave alarmed cries and tried to follow, but the child was surprisingly quick and was before Reign, gazing upward, before Kara even thought to move.

She rose quickly and zoomed over to hover near-by, just in case, but…. Didn’t truly believe Reign would hurt the child.

“Bolt!”

Reign lowered the puppy, who she had by the scruff of the neck and the child clutched it to her chest, only for it to scramble free.

Bending down Reign picked the animal back up, and the puppy’s desperate and terrified scrambling was no match for the WorldKiller.

The girls father slowly approached.

“Thank,” he swallowed and held his arms out for the puppy, edging the girl a little behind him. Dark eyes watched the movement, and Kara watched it all. “You. Thank you.”

Reign dropped the puppy into his arms uncaringly.

“Mika,” the father said and cleared his throat. “Say thank you.”

The girl darted forward and to the surprise of everyone there, and to National City when the moment was captured on film, hugged Reign’s legs.

The WorldKiller went as still as a statue while the child wrapped both arms and legs around her and was saying, in the way the children do,’ fank you, fank you, fank you, fank you.’

Reign had both hands raised and was staring down at the child around her with an expression of frozen horror that was clear, even through the mask.

“Release me, offspring!” She demanded and the child giggled but obeyed after a final squeeze.

“You’re funny.”

Reign blinked down at the dirty child. “I fail to see the humour in this. You are filthy.”

“Fi-ilfy,’ the child repeated.

“Filthy,” Reign articulated. “To be dirty. Muddy. Unclean.”

The child giggled again and the father picked her up, handing the puppy back to his wife. It was a bit more settled in the arms of the adults than it had been in the child’s. “So are you.”

Reign’s lips settled into a firm line. “That is because I was removing you from the landslide,” she retorted, and she almost sounded offended. “I bathe daily, I shall have you know.”

Kara wasn’t sure who started the clap, but soon the smattering of hands colliding turned into a full on applause and some whistling.

Reign looked around them, a slowly roving gaze. “Are you trying to crush something between your hands, humans? You will never match thunder, why do you attempt this?”

Kara nearly bit back a giggle, relief at saving everyone rampant in her veins. She wasn’t looking for a fight now, and was more than willing to let this play out how it did. Reign had saved lives today.

‘ _They’re applauding you. You did a good thing_.’

Kara’s brief good mood vanished. That was Lena’s voice. Her eyes narrowed in on Reign and she could see, stuck to her ear, was one of those wireless communication devices. She almost spoke it out-loud but she hesitated.

Reign had, for better or worse, helped her save dozens of people, and well, if Lena had been the one to send her then she really needed to speak to Lena. And…. Not with the DEO in her ear.

“I-“Reign said nothing but glanced around before shooting into the sky. Kara watched her go, and then returned to her duties, Supergirl had responsibilities, Lena would have to wait.

It was night time when she finally returned to National City, the horizon blurring into a blackish-blue, and she was exhausted and filthy.

She took a long shower, letting the hot water roll over her body and take with it the mud and dirt from her day. She would report in at the DEO tomorrow, but for now her bed was calling her, and with wet hair, she fell face-forward onto it. She’d already devoured a few  ‘Super Special’ pizzas, and had been very apologetic for the mud she had walked through the store, and was now ready to... just... relax...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya'll see Katie in the suit? Kidding, of course you did ;) I am a ghost posting from beyond this realm because I stg I had a heart attack :D I also saw Captain Marvel. I wont spoil it but.... not sure about the actress and I found her to be, initially, irritating but it faded to charm as she found herself. In the end I was thoroughly charmed by the film, Carol, and Fury. I laughed a lot :D
> 
> If any of you want some extra reading, check out Law and the Multiverse- just google. A series of blogs and a book on how fiction criminal proceedings would pass over in our world court and justice systems. An interesting read :D
> 
> What did you think of Kara's POV?
> 
> (This was going to be very long but I split it into two:D )


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may hit a little close to home after recent events. Take care all.

She was awoken, quite rudely by all accounts, the next morning to her DEO issued phone ringing incessantly.

Groaning in annoyance she felt around for it and brought it groggily to her ear. “Yeah?”

‘ _There’s an apartment fire on 15 th and Hill_,’ Winn told her and she blinked herself away, rolling over onto her back.

“Mh’kay.”

‘ _Reign is there._ ’

Kara’s eyes snapped open. “What?” She was suddenly awake and she zoomed into one of her spare suits, the other would need to be dropped off at the DEO for dry-cleaning.

‘ _She is just watching, according to reports_ ,’ Winn relayed, and Kara was flying through the sky towards the location within a minute.

A great plume of black smoke was billowing into the air, and she could hear the crackle of the flames, the hunger in which fire always burned, the heat it expelled into the air.

The apartment was six stories high, with shattered windows and blackened by smoke. The fire had spread in a way that made it obvious it was not a natural fire, or at least not an accident, and Kara quickly scanned the building before hesitating. Huh.

There was no one on the top floors, and there was a group of residents being helped out by…each other.

Eyes narrowing Kara zoomed around the building, checking its integrity and double-checking there was no-one inside. It was empty, bar the people rushing down the stairwell. The flames were slowly consuming the building from the top down…. It was clearly set, and she glanced around for the culprit. Reign stood on an opposite building, watching calmly as the building went up in flame.

Feeling on the other foot Kara settled down on the street ready to provide help to the residents.

“Is there anyone inside?” She asked a few of them, and they had looks of horror on their faces, and loss, but no one appeared to be dead or even wounded.

“What happened?” She asked as they shook their heads in negative to her first question.

They didn’t know the answer to her second question and she joined the residents in looking upward at the building a moment before she realised she should probably put it out.

A few minutes later and all that was left was a smouldering shell, and people without a home or belongings. The fire department rolled up shortly after and Kara made sure to relay the most important information to the chief, that no one was inside, and that the only person who had been hurt was a woman with a broken leg, who was being supported by another woman, before rising up onto the building Reign was on.

“What,” Kara demanded, jabbing her thumb behind her and at the building, “is this? Why would you do this?”

Reign was silent a long time, eyes on the residents below and Kara turned her comms off in order to silence the shouting in her ear.

“Those women,” she replied finally, pointing at two of the last people to exit the building. “Bicker all day. Sarah crack-whore, and Miley fat-bitch. They loathe each other.”

Kara followed her gaze and looked over the two women. It was the woman with the broken leg, now being looked over by medics, and the woman who had carried her out.

“I wanted to see,” Reign said, head tilting to the side.

“Raozhium believes that they deserve saving, that humans are… at their core good and selfless and kind, and that at the first sign of danger they will…. Run to each other.”

Reign turned her attention from the women and looked Kara over.

“That when it comes down to it, they will help even their enemy, even risking their own life. She wagered her life on it.”

Kara stiffened. Now that was not something she would ever allow and took a step towards the WorldKiller. “Did you hurt her?” She hissed and Reign tilted her head to the side, as though Kara were some oddity.

“I will not allow her to be harmed,” Reign said, and her eyes flared in warning before calming considerably as a sharp whistle pierced the air. At a high pitch.

Immediately the neighborhood dogs started to howl and both Kara and Reign winced and turned away from the sound.

“REIGN!” The fury in the voice lashed through the air, even as it was far in the distance.

“I believe I am in trouble,” Reign commented and took to the skies, Kara hot on her heels, as she answered Lena’s summons.

As the two twisted through skyscrapers Lena could be heard ahead of them shouting and cursing and Kara felt a flicker of amusement as the woman trailed off into muttered…Irish? Curses.

Reign touched down on the roof of L-Corp, Kara swift to follow.

“Raozhium,” Reign began, head ducked to the side slightly and Kara could only watch in bemused wonder as Lena cut across her.

“What in the world made you think setting an apartment on fire was a good idea?”

 Lena was mad, the tendons in her neck flexing with each word spat out and she advanced on Reign, eyes blazing. Her hair was down again, straight and behind her shoulders, and with the wind at the top of the building it billowed out behind her, giving her the illusion of some warrior goddess of old. Kara’s heart fluttered.

“I thought to test your belief.”

“You thought to-you-“ Lena’s mouth worked quietly and her fingers curled into talons in the air in front of her and she let out an, ‘argh’, of displeasure.

“You were correct. I will not doubt you again,” Reign said, and she ducked her head in a slight bow.

“Miss Luthor,” Kara said, finally drawing Lena’s attention to herself. “Please explain what’s going on?’

“Raozhium,” Reign said sharply, eyes narrowed on Kara and she had taken a half step towards Lena, angling her body towards Kara defensively. Kara took a step closer in response, eyes narrowing as Reign tried to keep Lena behind her. “You do not need to answer that question.”

Kara heard Lena’s eye roll, and couldn’t stop her lips twitching into a smile.

“I am very unhappy with you, Reign,’ Lena said, for Reign’s ears only, but Kara was able to hear it easily and had a front row seat as Lena berated the most powerful being on the planet.

“Please stop hurting people- I don’t care that no one got hurt-“ Lena cut across Reign again and sighed.

“Actually,” Kara interrupted and straightened under Lena’s attention. “One woman suffered a broken leg.”

The air went tense and Lena slowly turned to face the WorldKiller, who clasped her hands behind her back but didn’t look Lena in the eyes.

“Reign,” Lena began pleasantly, and Kara shivered. That was Lena’s no-nonsense tone, the one she used when she was very, very mad and the poor, unsuspecting employee was about to be faced with her legendary sharp tongue.

Reign appeared to know it too, for she actually took a step back, away from Lena!

Kara felt like she had stepped into some alternate reality.

“I thought we discussed harming people and their possessions.”

“We did,” Reign answered, though Kara wasn’t sure it had been a question.

Lena continued as though she hadn’t been answered. “And we also talked about causing unnecessary damage to people and property.”

“Yes, Raozhium.”

“Why then,” Lena smiled sweetly and it was a snake about to strike. “Did Supergirl tell me someone suffered a broken leg?”

Reign muttered something uncomplimentary about Kara under her breath and Kara nearly laughed.

“In order to test your faith I needed a high-risk scenario. I was on scene to make sure no one was gravely injured or died, I just wanted to see what Miley Fat-bitch and Sarah Crack-whore-“

“-that isn’t their names, Reign.”

“-would do if one of them was in trouble.”

Lena let out a long, long sigh.

“And?”

Reign straightened. “You will be pleased to note that they behaved in the manner you had said they would. I will follow your guidance from now on. Though,” her eyes narrowed through the mask. “You will not stake your life on such things. I could not harm you in any way and your loss would displease me greatly.”

Lena pinched her nose and made a waving motion with her other hand. “Go…. Just… go….”

Reign hesitated before lifting off her toes.

“I’ll speak with you later.”

Reign nodded and didn’t even glance at Supergirl as she flew off. Kara knew she really ought to follow her but right now, hearing Lena sigh again, she resisted the urge.

“Miss-Lena?” She asked hesitantly and Lena slowly pulled her hand away from her face, and she looked older now, far older than her twenty-something years.

“Are- are you alright?”

Kara didn’t think that Reign was hurting Lena in anyway, and based on the conversation she had just witnessed, Alex’s theory on Reign having some sort of allegiance to Lena was correct, but she didn’t know how deep it went.

“I’m babysitting a Kryptonian WorldKiller, Supergirl,” Lena confessed tiredly. “How do you think it’s going?”

Kara hesitated. Lena was showing her a great amount of trust in her words, basically admitting she had been in touch with Reign the entire time Reign had been quiet, and that she had some sort of sway over her. Kara could, on that information alone, take her to jail or do any other law abiding citizen thing and get in touch with the authorities. Alex, she knew, would jump at the chance, the DEO too, probably. But then… Reign might not take too kindly to that.

‘Your loss would displease me greatly,’ rang in her mind. Reign would probably come for Lena if she was taken, and oddly the thought didn’t frighten Kara as much as it should. Reign clearly had some sort of attachment to Lena, and none of her actions indicated she wanted to hurt Lena, the opposite in fact.

Lena shook her head. “It’s actually not that bad,” an odd smile on her lips. “Reign is…. Sweet and….almost… kind… I think… I think I’m finally showing her what we can be, and, if yesterday was any indication,” Lena looked hesitantly cautious as she looked at Kara, “maybe what _she_ can be.”

Kara would have, before watching Reign calmly shoulder a train carriage and help save a lot of people, immediately jumped on the offensive and berated Lena for supporting Reign but now…

Now she wasn’t so sure…

“Lena….”

Lena let out a sigh and started towards the roof-top door.

“She chose to help yesterday.”

“She also chose to set an apartment building on fire,” Kara interrupted dryly, falling into step.

Lena sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “That…may have been my fault,” she said as she placed her hand on the door and a green light ran over her hand before there was a beep and the door opened.

“We were speaking this morning and I told her how I felt about people, about what humans can be if we need to, what we truly are when it comes down to it.” The stairs down into the L-Corp building were clean and Lena took careful steps down it. She was wearing a black pencil skirt, tight, and it highlighted the muscles in her body _nicely_. The height of her heels emphasised the toned lines of her calves and-well-higher up, up and up and _up_. Kara tripped down the stairs.

Lena paused at the gap in the stairwell to glance up at her, expression contorting, and Kara jumped to her feet, face flushing and quickly brushed rubble and cement dust from her shoulders. Lena glanced between her and the hole she had put through the railing and part way into the wall and lifted a brow, but kept walking down the stairs.

Kara quickly followed, clearing her throat and trying to clear her blush and keep her eyes off Lena’s rear as they descended the stairs.

“Reign…. disagreed… she’s been…conflicted since Mathew,” Lena said as she strode up to another heavy, reinforced door and placed her palm on the scanner. It beeped and clicked, and Lena pulled the door open.

“’You won’t stake your life on it? What was it about?”

They got a few double-takes as they strode deeper into the L-Corp building, towards Lena’s office.

“I told her that I believed that, when it came down to it, people would help each other, they would come together. She wanted to know if I would stake my life on it. I-“ Lena hesitated as they entered the elevator and Kara scooted into it behind her.

“I said that I would,” Lena said, avoiding Kara’s eyes in the reflective glass of the elevator as the doors closed.

“Lena!”

Lena shrugged a little and held her palm onto the elevator scanner.

“We can’t do nothing, Supergirl,” she said simply, but her words were weighted, and Kara had a brief memory of ‘save the chemicals. Not me.’

“What was it you said?”

Jess watched them exit the elevator with barely concealed surprise which faded into a professional mask.

“I told her that…people look into themselves and each other, when faced with adversary, that they need to save themselves and each other and-“ she hesitated at her door, eyes flicking up to Kara’s face a moment before down to her crest and she gave an apologetic grimace, “not look to the skis for their salvation.”

Kara caught the insulation, quite clearly actually, and winced at Lena’s back.

Lena strode into her office. “It’s not that I don’t agree with,” she paused long enough to gesture absently at all of Kara, and then went quiet.

She paced behind her desk, heels clicking before easing as she sat.

“I don’t agree with her setting the apartment on fire but…” Lena ducked her head a little sheepishly and Kara frowned at her, confused. “Well, you heard her. She is finally seeing what I was tying to show her.”

“And what’s that, Miss Luthor?” Kara asked, placing her hands on her hips in her classic superhero pose.

“That we don’t need some other being,” Lena said waving her hand around and the jewels on her wrists caught the light. “To save us, not until we have tried to save ourselves _and_ each other. That we, humans, have that instinct at our core, and it can’t be re-written, not by life or learning, it is who we are.”

Kara tried to hide her smile, that was Lena to her core.

“So you think Reign has turned from her justice quest?” She enquired, not sure where she should go from here. Lena was admitting to her that she had more contact with Reign than even the DEO had thought.

Lena was kind and good, or at least wanted to be good, so she was certainly trying here.

Lena was contemplative for a long time, even spinning and gazing out the window and eying the skyline, “I think she is genuine in that. She does want to help,” Lena turned back around and smiled softly at Kara.

“I think she just needs guidance with it,” she lifted a shoulder and her smile shifted, a half smile, fond. “She’s…getting there and I think she’s on the… verge of something life changing.”

“That doesn’t mean she just gets… a free pass!” She threw her hands up.

Reign had killed people, the Children of Reign who were going out beating criminals up did so in her name, and she had beaten Kara into a coma.

Lena nodded a little, and Kara could see her mind twirling over.

“I think…” Lena spoke slowly, carefully, “that…sometimes we get a second chance, an opportunity to write our own path, to…be who we want to be, rather than who we are expected to be.”

Kara blinked.

“You think it needs to be forgotten? Forgiven?” She was a little confused here. “People died!”

“I know,” Lena’s brow furrowed and her smile turned pained and Kara had a sudden revelation that…maybe Lena wasn’t talking about Reign here...she was talking about herself.

Lena saw herself in Reign? That was ridiculous! Lena was nothing like Reign! Lena was kind and sweet and cared about people and genuinely wanted to save the world, to help people. Reign was nothing like that.

“You aren’t like Reign,” Kara said firmly and then forcibly made herself soften. “You are kind and sweet and care about other people. Reign is nothing like that.”

Lena was silent a long moment, tilting her head to the side and her smile was sad and aching, Kara wanted to launch across the distance between them and wrap Lena in her arms.

“Do you know what people say about me?”

Lena leant forward and took a sip of water from her desk.

Kara was silent. When Lena Luthor had first touched down in National City, and her life had been threatened, before Lex had been appointed Suspect Number One, the DEO and NCPD had tried to find a list of suspects. Kara hadn’t seen all of the Tweets, Facebook Messages, threatening emails and letters, but she had seen a few…. And they hadn’t been pleasant. Lena had been threatened all her life, even before Lex went psycho and tried to kill Superman, but then it got worse and some of the comments were….particularly nasty and even thinking of them made rage sit heavy in her chest. That Lena had to deal with that, and did deal with that, on a daily basis made her sad.

Lena arched a brow, ducking her head slightly, and Kara could only nod. When Lena gave you _that_ look, you did what she wanted.

“Yes.”

Lena nodded and settled back into her chair.

“I never had the chance to even do anything,” Lena admitted quietly, voice a little aching and something twisted in Kara’s heart.

“They judged me, as though I were the guilty one.” Kara swallowed back her response. She had, too, and so had everyone she knew, even now they judged her, they wanted her behind bars, or in a little room with no sunlight, and Lena was… well, Lena was …Lena. She didn’t deserve any of their vitriol and hatred and fear. But she shouldered it, or, had no choice but to weather it. And….maybe she saw a bit of herself in Reign.

Reign had chosen to do what she had, going by the only thing she knew, if Lena were to be believed, and now she was…not exactly paying the price for it, because they’d have to catch her to do that, she was-apparently- trying to change. The Reign of old, the one who had first shown up, would never have protected a child, the beating was something she could have seen her doing, but she certainly wouldn’t have saved the people on the train. Reign, was, trying to be…good? It was… she couldn’t be good.

She was a WorldKiller, she was supposed to hunt and kill bad humans, she wasn’t meant to be…good, was she?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo, dunno if everyone knows what happened in my country on Friday but, well, fuck those pieces of garbage. Where is a WK when you need one? 
> 
> This chapter was pre-written.... I guess its what we all hope to believe about ourselves and each other. 
> 
> In humanity we have great evil but also such selfless acts of kindness and courage and it is devastating that events like these are where both are showcased. This is not what we aspire to be, and it is heartening to see most of the world in agreement, one voice crying out that no, we arent like this, this isnt who we are.
> 
> A lot of the chapters are already written, and most are planned. I have not taken any inspiration from what happened, the thought is still.... disbelief and horror to be honest, those kinds of things dont happen here but there is no place free of terrorism, we know that now and we will do better. 
> 
> The story arc I have planned is...similar to Friday's attack but focused on the past. WW2. I'm spoiling it now, and will make an effort to remind y'all with a warning when those chapters come up, so that you can chose to continue or not.  
> I just wanted you all to know that the chapters to come, if I have the heart to write them as I had planned, will be...hard for as all. 
> 
> If you want me to properly spoil the plot line, to keep you safe, I will. It is not something that I had planned to go into detail with, but it is still present. PM me and I will tell you so you can make the decision for yourselves. Still, if I keep going I will endeavor to treat the subject as delicately and with as much respect as it deserves, especially in light of recent attacks. They've hit a little too close to home. I have been to Berlin, to Krakow, I have seen where this hatred and violence leads and I dont want any part of that, even on accident. So if what I say causes an issue, let me know so I can correct it.
> 
> Kia Kaha,
> 
> Rykeral


	16. Chapter 16

Lena looked at the WorldKiller curled on her couch, with a blanket over her body and a bowl of popcorn in her lap. There was a pack of coke on the coffee table next to her as well as a pile of lollies and more bags of popcorn, ready to be popped with lazer vision.

“I don’t have time to watch a movie, Reign.”

The WorldKiller pouted.

Lena sighed. “Fine,” she said frowning and thinking of the business proposals she needed to go over and instead sat on the edge of the couch.

Reign had taken to Netflix quite well and had, if her records were to show, gone though a lot of kids animation movies. Tonight, was something called ‘How to Train your Dragon’* and Lena guessed there were dragons involved.

This was the first night of Reign moving in officially with Lena. After burning her apartment, which Lena still had to convince Reign was a bad idea while Reign liked to think it was a learning curve, Reign had shown up on Lena’s balcony in, well, fluffy pyjamas.

Her logic had been thorough, and Lena was a little impressed but also persuaded. She could hardly leave the WorldKiller out there alone, and so had agreed to let Reign use her guestroom. Which lead her to her current situation- wanting to work while her very persuasive house-guest wanted to eat and watch children’s movies.

The music was excellent, Lena decided, minutes later when she had a handful of popcorn and her own can of coke. Reign was going to ruin her diet, just like Kara was. Reign was also, Lena learnt and though she really should have been prepared for it as Reign would write down questions for Lena to answer later, a very vocal watcher of movies.

She had comments to say every few minutes, ‘he is trying to be something he is not why are they trying to change him?’, ‘they hate him until he is popular and then they love him,’ ‘his father is not listening, is he a bad parent?, ‘Astrid changed when she understood she was wrong,’, ‘flying is an amazing feeling, I understand the elation,’ and, most important of all, ‘why did he rescue the dragon? He risked his life for a creature he doesn’t care for.’

Lena had to pause the movie, now thoroughly invested in it, damn it, and took a few moments to consider her reply. Reign was staring at the frozen image of Stoick standing with Hiccup as they stared up at Toothless.

“I do not understand,” Reign gave Lena her full attention, and the weight of it was a familiar one. She was used to being Reign’s guide, and moral compass, even though she wasn’t so sure about her own. She lived in shades of grey, and she knew that. She was not afraid to go dark, or be perceived as dark, if she was doing the right thing. It made her different from her family, but also close to them. Lena was a Luthor. She would see it through no matter the cost.

“Stoick hates dragons, and he hates this dragon, it took his son away. Why does he save it?”

“Because Hiccup loves him,” Lena explained gently, pointing to the screen.

Reign’s expression of confusion was obvious.

“Stoick loves Hiccup. Hiccup loves Toothless. Stoick, for all his faults, wants Hiccup to be happy and healthy and he knows Toothless is part of that. He has the power to save Toothless, so he does.”

Reign was quiet a long time, and Lena could see her thinking it through. “Stocik loves Hiccup and Hiccup loves Toothless so Stoick loves Toothless.”

Lena ducked her head and nodded. “That is… it. When you care about someone, you want to protect and help the people they care about too, because losing them would hurt the person you care about, and that hurts you.”

Reign didn’t say much more for the rest of the film and Lena knew she had given her a lot to think about.

Shortly after the movie Lena retired to her room, telling Reign to help herself to any food and to make a note of anything she wanted and Lena would have her house-keeper fetch it for her.

Reign was left to browse Netflix as Lena readied herself for bed and made a mental note to chase down the insurance she had for Regina Grace at the apartment Reign had set on fire. It wouldn’t do anyone to investigate it further and look into Regina.

As was her Friday night tradition she dialled a very familiar number.

‘ _Hi, you’ve reached, Sam. Leave me a message_.’

“Hey, Sam. It’s me,” Lena let out a sigh and gathered her pyjamas. “I know you asked for space but I really think you should come home if you can, as soon as you are ready. I spoke with Ruby and she misses you. We both do. Please come home.”

She hung up with a sigh. Sam only ever spoke to Ruby, and even then it was always short and sweet and always left Ruby feeling…left out and lonely. Lena had tried to speak with the girl, and with Sam, but she had never received an answer. But still, as she had told Supergirl, she couldn’t do nothing. It wasn’t in her nature, and well, she missed her friend.

Her night was uneventful and come morning her house-guest was absent, and she ignored the slight flicker of irritation at the thought. Reign wasn’t…hers… she could come and go as she pleased. Lena wouldn’t stop her that, but it would be nice to know when and where the WorldKiller was going. Especially now. Every media in the world had played the scenes of Reign helping Supergirl rescue the people trapped in the train, and while some of the feedback had been positive, Supergirl had been thrown under the bus for working with Reign.

She had yet to make a statement, but a lot of less reputable publications were wondering where Supergirl’s alliance lay, after all, Reign hadn’t been captured yet, and the last two occasions hadn’t even led to a fight between the two.

However, the families of the people who had been trapped had publicly thanked Reign, and the video set of the child hugging Reign had gone viral, and people were starting to wonder who she really was.

The Children of Reign, the group of vigilantes’ that ran around in masks and beat up criminals had crowed that this was their god, their protector and punisher, the true god, because, wasn’t that what God did? Protect and punish? Of course that had led to vicious debates both on line and in person and Lena was trying to avoid being drawn into the debate. She wasn’t exactly impartial.

A few days later, with Reign coming and going as she wished and then making Lena watch movies with her before bed, she was heading to work. Reign had been going back to the kindergarten, on and off, but had also taken to listening to the teaching going on in the school next door, and Lena was not impressed with the curriculum. She was learning, through Reign’s perfect memory, that the children were learning about history, and learning a very watered down version of history. She was thankful that she had been sent from the US for her education, there was far less prejudice in Ireland, though it was still present. Plus Lena had the mind to learn things on her own, and had a very well rounded education, with learning from many perspectives.

Sipping her fruit smoothie she made her way down to her town car and entered with a nod to her driver.

“Morning Grant.”

“Morning, Miss Luthor,” he said with a smile. “L-Corp?”

She gave a nod and shifted into work mode, and didn’t move from it until about lunch time when a frantic looking Jess burst into her office.

“Miss Luthor!” She looked flustered and nervous and it was so uncharacteristic that Lena rose partially from her chair, glancing behind Jess to see if she were being chased.

“Jess?”

“You need to see this!” Jess took the remote for her television and it flashed into life.

Lena had to sit down.

Now she understood just why Jess had been so frantic.

She was aware of her parted lips and wide eyes, but really, what does one do when they are faced with their likeness partially carved into 60f of granite alongside four presidents.

Well, shit.

The banner along the bottom of the screen was very helpful in explaining what the aerial view of Mt Rushmore was showing them. ‘ _WorldKiller carves face into Rushmore_.’

“Miss Luthor!”

“Unmute it, Jess,” Lena finally found her voice, and if it came out in a squeak well, Jess was paid enough to not mention it.

‘ _And as you can see, the image Reign is carving sits next to President’s Lincoln, Roosevelt, Washington, and Jefferson. Now, eye-witness’s report that the WorldKiller flew into the area and proceeded to pound into the rock at about ten am today and is well on the way to a full face sculpture. She started to lazer vision the rock a short time ago, and it is clearly a face of some kind, though we aren’t certain who it is yet. Park Authorities have issued a warning, asking guests to remain clear of the cliff-side and to remain behind the barriers while the proper authorities are contacted_.’

“My face is being carved on Mount Rushmore.”

And it was her face, process of elimination and also that jaw-line, made it quite clear who Reign was trying to immortalise in stone.

“Yes,” Jess replied with minimal sarcasm and Lena appreciated it. “At least it’s a nice image? Picture? Erm, carving? The likeness is incredible.”

“I can see that,” Lena snapped, probably too harshly as Jess winced and she shook her head in apology.

“Sorry.”

Jess just ducked her head as the news changed to show shaky, amateur footage of a blur zipping around the right of the monument, carving out the rock with flashes of bright light.

“Please get me a helicopter. I need to go there.”

“Right away, Miss Luthor,” Jess said and she brought her phone to her ear.

“And Jess?”

Lena waited until Jess turned back to her. “Block my calls, have Mathias come in, and increase security.”

Jess nodded sharply and Lena turned her attention back to the television.

What did Reign think she was doing? What could have possibly driven her to carve Lena’s face onto a National Monument?

And she wasn’t answering her calls either, not that Lena tried after the first ten times, and instead considered throwing her phone across the room as it buzzed incessantly. Only a few people, namely one, was aware of her…connection to Reign, and she would like to keep it that way. Having the WorldKiller carving her face next to President Lincoln would let the entire world know that that was not the case, and she wasn’t quite sure of what to do about that.

Soon she was striding through her office, aware of the eyes on her, and knew that by now they all knew that something had happened, and as Lena had told Mathias, in ear shot of someone else, she was going to Mt Rushmore, it was obvious it had something to do with Reign.

“Ignore them,” he suggested, voice a low, reassuring rumble and Lena nearly snorted.

“A Kryptonian WorldKiller is carving my face into Mount Rushmore like it’s a rock you pick up off the beach.”

Mathias merely lifted a brow at her as the elevator doors closed.

“Of course I’m ignoring them. I have far bigger problems.”

Her lawyer chuckled. “You cannot be held accountable for the actions of someone else,” he told her wisely. “Though I know you like to shoulder the sins of others.”

She almost rolled her eyes at him, but caught her reflection in the clean reflection of the elevator and thought better of it.

“Thank you for agreeing to come with me,” she said quietly, appreciating him more than she could say.

“Of course.”

They didn’t speak much more as the helicopter was primed and ready to take off from the Heli-pad and Lena kept her head turned out the window, eyes closed as she tried to predict how the media and authorities would spin the story, because, if the live feed was to be judged, it would soon be fairly obvious who Reign was carving.

Lena was a public figure after all.

It helped keep her attention from her surroundings, from the whirl of the chopper and the occasional comment by the pilot and co-pilot. Mathias was working as they went, trying to dig up any possible laws that could come into play with what Reign had done. Lena hadn’t quite told the old man what she had been doing with Reign, but she had spoken with him at length about it before, and he had quietly gone away to process and, if how quickly he had a file on Reign and her actions, had taken steps.

The flight passed by quickly, and soon they were landing at an air field, to board a private jet. Lena had demanded speed over efficiency, at a cost in fuel, but she was a billionaire so it didn’t matter.

She even changed pilots, and the lack in security clearance for them might have bothered her if she wasn’t in a hurry.

 As it was, they took one look at her and scrambled to see to her every need.

Lena mostly ignored it, letting Mathias handle them, Lena just wanted to get to South Dakota as soon as possible.

The quick flight via commercial plane would have taken a few hours, but with a private jet and permission to go as fast as safe, they made it in just over two, and were soon landing at the Rapid City Regional Airport.

Lena left clearance and paperwork to her pilot and instead stepped from the air-conditioned plane to the heat coming off the tarmac and was glad she had snatched her glasses from her walk-in closet before she had left. She had also taken a moment to change out of her skirt and blazer into something a bit more comfortable for the journey.

She was in jeans, designer, black boots and shirt, and one of her favourite olive green fake biker jackets. She had gone for stylish but still professional, after all, by the time she touched down in South Dakota, it would be quite obvious who Reign was carving into the fucking mountainside.

It was hot but she was thankful Jess had seen to security units, who, Jess had informed her firmly, were not to leave her side until she was back on the plane. Lena had merely nodded to them and strode across to the helicopter waiting for her to take her to Mt Rushmore.

Wonderful. She had another four people to deal with.

She had streamed the live-feed during the flight over and knew that most of her features were obvious, and already people were speculating about it, about her. She was not looking forward to that when she got to Mount Rushmore.

The flight over was silent, though the pilot either had no idea who she was and why she was going to Mt Rushmore, or was trying to make conversation because he commented on the traffic, and how weird it was. When they passed over the road towards the heli-pad he mentioned how odd it was that people were parking their cars on either side of the road and walking towards the monument.

Lena said nothing. Nor did her security until a voice emerged from the cockpit speaker demanding they turn around.

Lena spoke into her helmet. “Patch me through, please,” she asked and the pilot shrugged and did as she asked.

“This is Lena Luthor requesting permission to land at Mount Rushmore Heli-pad.”

There was a crackle of static and the person in charge of aviation responded. “ _Just a moment Miss Luthor_.”

They continued towards the heli-pad at Lena’s insistence and soon the radio cracked to life again.

“ _Miss Luthor, you are clear to land, but your helicopter will need to leave immediately. Director Wright requests your presence at HQ immediately. Someone will be down to escort you through the cordons_.”

Lena thanked the man and then opened her cell phone. She was interested to see who was in command here. A quick search revealed not much, but Lena knew far more than the average person, and took a few minutes to do some hacking. Soon she had her answer.

Dylan Wright was the Dakota DEO Director and Lena let out a little sigh. Wonderful.

The flight went quickly after that, and soon she was touching down on the Mount Rushmore Heli-pad.

The escort she had been promised was nowhere to be seen, but she figured they were still scrambling to find out as much about her as possible and her connection to Reign to send agents running down the hill to meet her. Plus, it was sort of a give-away.

The police cordon had been set up before the car park, and at the entrance to the park a few kilometres away. People were choosing to walk the distance towards the car-park, and Lena and her group merged with them with little recognition, apart from a few glances at the woman and her body-guards.

Her thighs burned pleasantly as she climbed the hill and clambered over the edge of the car-park and the press of people here was thick and swirling. Her security stepped in around her and she knew they cut an impressive image as they pushed their way past people to the front of the mass.

From the car-park you could see the mountain itself, not that the dust cloud rising from it lead to a great view, but the hazy image of a sharp jaw and fierce eyebrows were telling and she was thankful for her plain clothing didn’t draw attention to herself.

There was a line of flashing lights ahead of them, and police officers were lined across the road, keeping people away. Not that they would want to go further forward. The visitor centre had been shut down and the people were urged away. Thankfully they could watch the progress from the carpark and road, and getting any closer meant running the risk of trees obscuring your vision, so the people were mostly content to sit back and watch from afar.

Lena caught the eye of a few news crews and quickly slid through the crowd. She was not in the mood.

They were speculating about her and Reign’s relationship as she walked past and she winced, she didn’t want them to spot her any time soon.

The crowd her were less thrilled with Lena’s security guiding her past, but they were stern and strong and gone before anyone could do much about it.

As she emerged out to the police-line she tried to get the attention of an officer wearing grey and olive standing next to a police officer in blue.

There were wooden barricades and Lena stepped through it.

“Miss! Return behind the barrier,” the one in grey and green told her, approaching importantly and Lena cast him a glance before halting.

“Director Wright is expecting me. Could you please point me in her direction,” she said clearly, confidently, as her security bunched up behind the barrier.

“I don’t know how you know that name, Ma’am but please return behind the barrier or you’ll be arrested.”

Lena took a deep breath and let out a sigh. Over the officers shoulder she could see a trio of black-clad people running down the path and she turned slightly to Mathias as the police officer came over to support the first. Mathais nodded at seeing her escort approaching.

“Ma’am, step back behind the barrier or I will arrest you.”

“No, you wont,” Mathias pipped up, and there was a trace of amusement in his voice. “You’re going to let us past.”

By now they were getting attention and Lena drew herself up as the first officer looked amused as the second one reached for his cuffs. Their logos were different and Lena realised that one was an actual police officer and the other one was some sort of National Park Ranger.

“Turn around and place your hands on your head,” he ordered, holding them out and Lena didn’t move as he took a step towards her.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she commented and the trio were getting closer, running quite fast down the curved road.

“Why’s that?”

“Because that is my face currently being carved into the mountain,” Lena commented dryly and the officer paused.

Lena lifted her glasses from her face and held his gaze.

“Director Wright,” she said clearly, intention clear and the agents finally ran up, not even out of breath.

“Ma’am,” said one snapping to attention and the officers were watching with wide eyes, matched by the crowd. “Director Wright is waiting for you.”

He held out an arm in the direction of the information centre and Lena smiled sweetly at the officer who hadn’t recognised her.

“They’re with me,” she said turning her head to her security and lawyer.

The soldier ran eyes over the four guards before tapping his ear.

“Sir? Miss Luthor is here with four guards and-“

“Her lawyer,” Mathais rumbled and the agent nodded and relayed the information.

“Yes, Sir.”

He lowered his hand.

“The guards will stay but your lawyer can come.”

Lena nodded and strode forward, aware of the cameras flashing in her direction and of the questions being shouted at her. She trusted Mathias to dismiss her security.

They walked quickly and quietly up the road, past the large bays for busses and through the stone arch-ways. The information centre was closed and the place was void of people in an almost eerie manner.

Far ahead of them, where flags fluttered in the breeze, Lena could see canvas tents and plastic tables. The authorities were lucky it was such a beautiful day. Lena didn’t want to picture the area when it was wet.

“This way,” one of the agents said and she was directed to the observation deck and to the command tent.

The agents had guns here, large rifles and combat gear, and Lena idly ran her eyes over them, wondering what good they could do against Reign.

“Sir,” the agent with her called for attention. “Miss Luthor.”

Director Dylan Wright looked to be in her forties and had short, spikey hair and a few more piercings than Lena would have thought a secret agent would have. There were tan lines around her dark eyes, faint against her olive skin, and she had a wolf tattoo on her arm.

“Director Wright of the DEO, Dakota branch,” she said, turning from a live feed of Reign almost gently lazering one of stone-Lena’s eyebrows.

“Lena.”

“You want to tell me why a Kryptonian WorldKiller is currently carving your face into a National Monument?”

Lena didn’t let the woman intimidate her, though her glare would have worked on lesser women.

“I’d like to ask her that myself.”

The Director held her gaze for a long moment before looking past her to Mathais, and she was very relieved to have him with her, just in case.

“I can’t authorise that,” she said firmly, turning back to Lena. “I cannot allow civilians to be put at risk.”

“Respectfully, as Reign is currently carving out my eyebrow into a mountain side, I don’t think that is your decision.”

“I’m in command here,” the director pointed out and Lena wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.

“If you were in command Reign would be in custody.”

The Director eye brow twitched but she said nothing, and the sudden silence was telling.

“Fine. I have reports from a J’onn Jonnz from National City that Reign has some sort of…attachment to you. You can go and speak with her, but you will be escorted.”

Lena inclined her head, choosing not to tell the Director that Reign wouldn’t hurt her. No need to have that information spread around.

“Your lawyer will remain behind the cordon.” There was finality in Dylan’s tone and Lena glanced to Mathias and nodded. His eyes narrowed but he silently agreed.

Soon Lena was being escorted down the trail that took them closest to the monument. The Park Rangers and authorities had already moved off the path to keep an eye on Reign, and they met the little group at the edge of the trail.

“We can go up this way,” the agent said and guided them through the trees and out onto the rocks.

There was a team already there, with equipment up the hill, a few of them with guns and others with surveillance equipment.

Face masks and glasses were passed out and Lena removed her aviators and tucked them into her shirt. The googles looked hideous but she wanted to protect her eyes from the dust layering the air in a haze.

The climb up towards the base of the mountain was irksome, and Lena made a mental note to add a bit more rigorous cardio to her work-out routine. Her muscles strained with the burn and her breath was in carefully disguised pants as they came to a position, half way towards the cliff, where the authorities had set up camp.

There were telescopes and cameras and a tent and bench, with lights set up around the area, prepared for night fall, though it was doubtful they would have to wait that long.

There were also vehicles, the thick and heavy set military ones, as well as the Park Ranger SUVs.

“Alright,” Director Wright’s voice was muffled by her face-mask. “Call her down.”

“She isn’t a dog, Director,” Lena commented wryly and stepped up to the side.

“Reign!”

Her voice was muffled so she lowered her mask and winced at the taste and grit that coated the back of her tongue almost instantly.

“REIGN!

She was not successful and she let out a sigh. Her only chance was to get closer to the WorldKiller.

“Do you have a flare?”

There was a few moments of shuffling before one was brought to her and she clicked the safety off and fired it, directly into the sky above her.

“REIGN! ZHGAM!” **

There was a pause in the lazer visioning, and Reign was working on Lena’s hair now, and the WorldKiller hovered in the air above the monument before appearing in front of her.

“Raozhium!”

The agents around her had their guns cocked and ready and Director Wright stood up carefully next to Lena.

“You are here. Do you like it? It isn’t finished yet.”

“Reign,” Lena interrupted her, mindful of their audience. “What are you doing?”

The WorldKiller tilted her head to the side. “I am carving your face into this mountain.”

Lena let out a sharp sigh and reminded herself to be patient. “I can see that,” she replied dryly. “But why?”

Reign straightened and turned back to look at the mountain before giving Lena her full attention.

“The four rulers of this land were selected for their contributions to the people and for their elation above the ordinary people. For their service they were carved onto the mountain. I have decided you, Lena Luthor, are deserving of such honour.”

Oh, boy.

Lena briefly let her hand cover her face as she thought of a reply. The wind was gently guiding the dust particles away and she didn’t want to think of the environmental consequences of it.

“It is a great honour,” Reign added, ignoring the humans and gazing back up at the statue.

What did you say to a god who had just decided to immortalise you in stone, alongside some of the greatest historical figures in America?

“What,” Lena said slowly, pulling her hand away from her face. “Gave you the idea?”

“I was learning the history of these lands and I was interested in this one. Why these men and not others? When I learnt why I knew that you would be a worthy addition to this National Treasure. Are you not pleased?”

No, Lena was not, but she could hardly tell that to Reign, or at least in not as many words.

“And a gift basket wouldn’t have worked?”

Reign spun back to Lena, dark eyes narrowed. “You are not pleased.”

“No, not really,” Lena had to answer and Reign tilted her head.

“Is it not big enough? I can erase the other faces if you would prefer.”

Lena had to take several quick steps to grab the WorldKiller by the arm and to stop her from doing just that.

“No! No,” she repeated gently as she pulled Reign back to face her.

“I have displeased you.” Reign placed one knee on the ground, head lowered. There were startled murmurs around Lena and she was aware that she was being watched and recorded.

“Get up,” she hissed and tugged on Reign’s arm. The WorldKiller stood immediately.

“I… do not understand.”

Lena wet her lips and took a measured breath, wincing at the dust and grimacing away. The boom Reign made as she left made her ears ring and she brought her hand up to them in pain.

A few moments later and Reign was back and the air around them was clear. It also gave Lena an unfortunately clear view of her face carved into the mountain, highlighted in sunlight.

Lena took her glasses off and lifted her face mask from around her neck.

“You cant just go and carve something into a National Monument,” she tried to explain as she untangled her hair from the mask straps.

“It doesn’t belong to you and is.. defacing of property?” She hesitated a moment and shrugged. She wasn’t 100% sure of the specifics but needed to get Reign to understand.

“It is a National Monument of great significance. You don’t get to decide what to do with it just because you can,” said one of the older agents lingering behind Lena.

“That did not stop the builders doing it before,” Reign pointed out and Lena nearly laughed. A man, who Lena hadn’t paid much attention to before, snorted and she glanced at him.

His dark hair was tied in a low ponytail and his rolled up sleeves showed tattoos on his arms, feathers, animals and mountains.

“She has a point,” he said and gave a little shrug, the little claw in his ear shaking with the movement.

Reign folded her arms. “I like you, human.”

“Sorry,” Lena said, turning to the speaker, who was in civilian clothing. “You are?”

His smile was wide and charming. “Chay. These are my peoples lands.”

Lena paused, glancing over the gathered agents and then back at Chay. “I didn’t ask your name, I asked who you were.”

He straightened proudly under her gaze. “Chaytan Tashunka. I am the liaison for this situation.”

“Nice to meet you, Chaytan,” Lena said and turned back to Reign.

“Reign. You cant just do whatever you want to.”

“Why not?” Reign asked. “The people in power built this to honour the people they respected. I respect you. I am the most powerful being on this planet. Why should I not?”

Chaytan snorted again and Lena glared at him. “Not helping.”

“Because you are stealing,” Lena said patiently, not sure why the concept of theft hadn’t come up before. Maybe it had and Reign was just ignoring it?

“I am stealing stolen property? I am not taking it. It is still there.”

“I like you, WorldKiller,” said Chaytan.

“My name is Reign,” Reign corrected.

Chaytan nodded and his smile was bright and charming, “You wouldn’t be interested in consultancy work, would you?”

Lena held up a hand. “Let’s not do that right now, please. Focus.”

“Reign. You need to stop with this,” she pointed up at the mostly complete statue. “This isn’t yours, no matter who it might belong to,” she added to halt any further debate. “You can’t just deface someone else’s property.”

“I am adding a face, yours, and it is a considerable improvement. You are far prettier.”

A backhanded compliment if Lena had ever had one.

Chaytan covered his mouth with his hand and Lena shot him a glare.

“Miss Luthor,” said Director Wright and Lena didn’t let her finish.

“Not now,” she interrupted with her eyes still on Reign. “No more going around and putting my face on National Monuments, okay?”

Reign let out a sigh. “As you say, Raozhium. Though it would be a shame to leave a job undone.”

“Nooo, there she goes,” Lena lifted her hands in a helpless gesture as Reign flew off, and there was more dust rising as her vision cut into the rock.

“Wonderful,” Lena said, sounding anything but thrilled.

“You had your opportunity,” Director Wright said, and the she was turning, barking orders and Lena was left standing with Chaytan as they looked up at the mountain as the agents moved around behind them.

“I read up on your WorldKiller when I heard what she was doing,” Chaytan spoke after a few moments and Lena set her glasses on her face as the dust started to move in a wave down the mountain.

“She’s not my WorldKiller.”

Chaytan hummed. “She sees things differently, doesn’t she?”

There was no judgement in his gaze, only curiously and Lena shrugged.

“She only knows what she is told, and what she has learnt. She sees everything in black and white. Sort of like a child.”

“Only this child could destroy the world,” Chaytan placed his own glasses back on his face, pulling up his face mask. “What we could do if we had that kind of power.”

Lena nodded, eyes on Reign as she blitzed through the air and carved her hair from granite.

“We could protect so much.”

“At what cost?” Lena asked and turned back to see the agents were bring out a big gun.

“Oh no,” she said and shook her head. “No, no, no, no, no! That is not a good idea!”

She took a few strides forward to where the DEO were setting up a, well, it looked like some sort of rocket launcher.

“Director! You can’t be serious!” She protested as she strode into the camp.

“You had your opportunity, Miss Luthor. Harry, escort her away. Chay too.” Dylan ordered and an agent came up to her, grabbing her firmly, a little too firmly really.

“Director!” She protested as she was dragged through the small camp and she berated her smile size. “You don’t have to shoot her! Let me talk to her. Tell me what you want?”

“You’ve talked to her and she is still destroying a National Monument. Now we deal with her my way.”

Lena was still protesting as she was dragged away, and really did the agent holding her arm have to have such a strong grip?

Twisting back to continue trying to reason with the Director she didn’t see the upturned rock and went stumbling forward. The angle was all off and she gasped as she went down, arm twisting slightly.

Abruptly she was released and Reign was standing over her, eyes red and hand raised out in warning.

“Wrong move, human,” she snarled and Lena quickly stumbled to her feet.

“No, Reign!”

The burning feeling in the air faded but the tension in it did not.

“That was an accident!” Lena quickly came around between Reign and the agent. “I’m fine, okay. I’m fine. I just tripped.”

Red eyes blinked back to brown. “Maybe so, but I understood that humans should not lay a hand on another human without their permission?”

Lena nodded slowly. How did she explain her way out of this without misguiding Reign.

“That is true, but I was reluctant to leave, so I was being escorted away,” she held her hands up in a peaceful gesture. “I, was, technically in the wrong because I have no authority here and Director Wright ordered me to leave and I wouldn’t go.”

“You are always right.”

“Not always. But in this instance I was trying to keep things from escalat-“

A boom hit Reign and she stumbled and Lena fell away. The crack her body made as it hit the ground echoed in her skeleton and she brought her hands to her head as the sound echoed in her skull.

“Argh,” she cried, feeling little grains of rock digging in through her clothing.

There was a scurry of movement above her, flashes of colour she couldn’t see, before what seemed like a hurricane lifted from the ground.

Lena blinked away the pain in her skull, trying to focus her dizzy vision on the face swarming in front of her.

Chay was talking to her, his mouth was moving but it was all blurry and when she touched her head and brought it before her eyes it was red, a sharp contrast against the dark, earthy tones around her.

She shook her head, trying to fight the dizziness but that only made it worse, and then Chay was getting closer and lifting her into the air.

She was dimly aware of a haze of movement around her, people in black scrambling around as rocks and dust twirled around them. Powerful hands cradled her gently and she groaned at the rocking movement of being carried and a soothing voice was above her, but she couldn’t make out the words, only the tone. Her head was screaming, a high-pitched ringing sound and it was really fucking annoying.

On the shadows of her vision she cold see black, and it was cold and welcoming and she fell into it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * I had to ;) Plus that scene in particular will have a part to play in the future :D  
> ** Come- according to Kryptonian. info, which is a really cool site for all things language related to Krypton. Check it out.
> 
> Also, looking up names for any other ethnicity apart from white is actually a little challenging, go figure. I mean, I probably could have figured that out for myself, but seeing it properly was a bit of a surprise. I dunno how I did with that, but I did spend a while researching. -If anyone as more knowledge HMU and I'll make edits :D
> 
> Mwah!
> 
>  
> 
> Also, guess who had another fic idea? A hatchet AU is slowly taking over my brain. Anyone been to Denali National Park? Or live near-by? I want to set it there but..... research, research, research I guess :D


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